BRKELEY 

BRARY 

VERSITY  OF 
aiFORNIA 


IV 


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HISTORY 


OF 


TAZEWELL  COUNTY 


AND 


SOUTHWEST  VIRGINIA 
1748-1920 


BY 
WM.  C.  PENDLETON 


With  llluslralions 


1920 

W.  C.  Hill  Printing  Companv 

Richmond,  Va. 


LOAN  STACK 

c'opvkiuht,  u»2(), 
By  William  C.  Pendleton 


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DEDICATED 

To  the  memory  of  my  beloved  son 
James  French  Pendleton 

He  was  pure  in  heart,  faithfttl  in  service,  and 
the  embodiment  of  truth 


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Executive  Committte,  Tazewell  Historical  Society, 
A.  St.Clair,  President. 


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Executive  Committee,  Tazewell  Historical   Society, 
Jno.  S.  Bottimore,  Secretary. 


PREFACE 


When  I  was  first  requested  b}'  certain  gentlemen,  who  are 
descendants  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the  Clinch  Valley,  to  write 
a  history  of  Tazewell  County,  it  was  intended  to  be  a  purely  local 
historj'.  But,  after  giving  the  proposition  careful  deliberation, 
1  conceived  the  scheme  which  has  made  it  a  history  of  the  Settle- 
ment, Development,  and  Civilization  of  Southwest  Virginia,  with 
Tazewell  County  as  the  central  figure.  The  reason  for  the  adoption 
of  this  plan  will  be  obvious  to  every  person  who  is  sufficiently 
interested  to  read  the  volume,  for  the  history  of  the  entire  South- 
west Virginia,  Tazewell  County  included,  is,  practically,  identical. 
And  their  history  is  intimately  identified  with  that  of  Virginia  and 
of  the  Nation,  as  the  people  who  have  lived  in  this  region  have  had 
much  to  do  with  forming  and  developing  the  political  thought  and 
social  character  of  the  State  and  Nation.  In  executing  this  plan, 
I  have  sei^arated  the  book  into  six  distinctly  marked  Periods,  and 
they  are  as  follows: 

1.  The  Aboriginal  Period,  which  is  devoted  to  that  branch  of  the 
human  familj^  that  occupied  or  roamed  over  this  section  of  the 
continent  before  men  of  the  white  race  came  here  to  make  their 
homes.  And  in  this  Period  the  origin  of  the  American  Indians, 
together  with  their  social  organizations,  tribal  relations,  religious 
characteristics,  et  cet.,  are  discussed. 

2.  The  Period  of  Discovery  and  Colonization,  in  which  the 
Spanish  Discoveries  and  Conquests,  the  French  Discoveries  and 
Settlements,  and  the  English  Discoveries  and  the  Settlement  at 
Jamestown  in  1607,  are  concisely  narrated. 

3.  The  Pioneer  Period.  This  is  the  most  extended  Period  of 
the  book;  and  is  used  to  tell  who  the  pioneers  were,  from  whence 
they  came,  how  they  got  here,  and  how  they  wrought  mightily  to 
reclaim  this  wonderful  country  from  a  wilderness  waste.  The 
Period  begins  with  the  first  settlements  made  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge 
Mountains  in  1732,  and  terminates  with  the  creation  of  Tazewell 
County  in  1799,  thus  comprising  the  settlements  made  in  the  Shen- 
andoah. Roanoke,  New  River.  Holston.  and  Clinch  valleys,  and 
Kentucky. 


X 


PREFACE 


4.  The  Ante-Bellum,  or  Formative,  Period,  which  begins  with 
the  organization  of  Tazewell  County  in  1800,  and  concludes  with 
the  commencement  of  the  Civil  War  in  1861.  Of  the  various  events 
mentioned  in  tliis  Period,  the  one  which  treats  of  the  forming  and 
developing  of  tlie  political,  social,  and  industrial  thouglit  and  char- 
acter of  the  people  is.  possibly,  tlie  most  interesting. 

5.  The  War  and  Reconstruction  Period,  which  embraces  tlie 
eventful  years  1861-18(39.  In  this  Period  I  relate  and  discuss  the 
potential  causes  that  provoked  tlie  Civil  War.  Detailed  accounts 
of  the  four  raids  made  by  Federal  soldiers  into  and  through  Taze- 
well County,  and  the  battles  these  raids  occasioned,  are  herein 
written  into  history  for  the  first  time. 

6.  The  Post-Bellum.  or  Development.  Period  tells,  in  brief  form, 
about  the  immense  development  of  the  mineral,  agricultural,  and 
other  natui-al  resources  of  Tazewell  County  and  adjacent  sections 
of  Southwest  Virginia  and  Soutliern  West  Virginia. 

In  prosecuting  this  work  my  chief  aim  has  been  directed  to 
gathering  and  preserving,  in  the  form  of  written  history,  many 
interesting  events  connected  with  the  performances  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  the  Clinch  Valley  and  Southwest  Virginia,  that  have 
been  lianded  down  by  reasonable  tradition,  or  are  to  be  found  in 
authentic  records.  Put  I  have  found  it  very  difficult  to  select  from 
the  great  mass  of  available  material  only  that  which  I  deemed  the 
most  important  and  essential  for  the  proper  accomplishment  of  my 
task.  To  that  end.  I  have  earnestly  examined  the  records  of  Taze- 
well County,  and  of  other  counties  with  which  Tazewell  was  civilly 
connected  before  it  was  organized  as  a  distinct  county.  I  have  also 
acquired  many  facts  from  the  valuable  archives,  of  manuscript  or 
l^rinted  form,  that  are  deposited  in  the  Virginia  State  Library,  and 
have  carefully  studied  many  local  and  general  histories  that  are 
recognized  as  reliable  sources  of  information. 

My  cordial  thanks  are  due,  and  are  hereby  given,  to  the  Presi- 
dent and  Secretary,  and  to  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Taze- 
well Historical  Society;  and  to  the  following  named  gentlemen, 
who  became  my  financial  backers  and  made  it  possible  to  procure 
the  publication  of  my  manuscript  in  book  form: 

S.  C.  Graham.  A.  St. Clair,  R.  O.  Crockett,  J.  W.  Chapman. 
W.  T.  Thompson.  Jno.  S.  Bottimore,  Jno.  P.  Gose,  R.  jSI.  Lawson. 
H.    P.    Brittain,   H.    G.   McCall,   H.   G.    Peery,   Chas.    R.    Brown. 


PRE  F  ACE  xi 

Wni.  E.  Peery.  A.  S.  Higginbotham.  W.  O.  Earns,  W.  T.  Gillespie, 
Geo.  R.  McCall.  G.  S.  Thompson.  A.  S.  Greever,  Barnes  Gillespie. 
E.  L.  Greever.  C.  H.  Peery,  J.  D.  Peery,  Henry  A.  Bowen.  Henry 
S.  Bowen.  J.  Ed.  Peery,  R.  C.  Chapman.  C.  B.  Xeel.  Jctt  \\'ard. 
A.  G.  Kiser.  J.  A.  Greever.  H.  W.  Pobst.  O.  E.  Hopkins.  C.  P. 
Harman,  B.  I.  Payne,  Jno.  H.  Thompson,  J.  G.  Barns,  W.  R. 
Bowen.  S.  S.  F.  Harman,  M.  J.  Hankins. 

I  wisli  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  certain  gentlemen 
who  have  given  me  valuable  assistance,  in  various  ways,  in  the 
prosecution  of  my  work — ^fr.  E.  G.  Swem,  who  was  for  years  and 
until  recently  the  pojjular  and  most  capable  Assistant  Librarian  of 
the  Virginia  State  Library,  and  Mr.  Morgan  P.  Robinson,  the 
polite  and  efficient  Archivist  of  the  Library.  These  two  gentlemen 
responded  so  generously  to  every  call  I  made  upon  them  for  assist- 
ance or  information.  tJiat  I  can  hardly  estimate  the  extent  of  my 
obligation  to  them. 

I  am  also  heavily  indebted  to  Messrs.  H.  P.  Brittain,  County 
Treasurer;  A.  S.  Greever.  Superintendent  of  County  Schools;  S. 
]\L  Graham.  A.  St. Clair.  C.  H.  Peery  and  Jno.  S.  Bottimore  for 
helping  to  gather  material  used  in  my  woi-k;  and  to  Messrs.  W.  O. 
Barns,  Wm.  E.  Peery  and  Henry  A.  Bowen  for  special  substantial 
favors. 

The  history  has  been  arranged  in  as  nearly  chronological  order 
as  it  was  possible  for  me  to  place  it.  It  is  hardly  necessary  for 
me  to  say  that  it  has  been  truly  a  labor  of  love  to  write  about  the 
deeds  and  accomplishments  of  the  splendid  men  and  women  who 
were  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the  Clinch  Valley  and  other  sections 
of  Southwest  Virginia.  And  it  has  been  a  pleasant  task  to  compile 
and  relate  the  ways  and  means  that  have  been  used  by  their  descend- 
ants and  successors  to  bring  this  section  of  Virginia  to  its  present 
social  and  industrial  high  position.  My  earnest  hope  and  desire 
is,  that  its  people  shall  continue  to  advance  on  these  lines  until 
they  have  attained  the  most  exalted  stage  of  Christian  civilization 
and  human  freedom. 

,         ^   ,    ^^T^  Wm.  C.  Pendleton. 

June  1st,  1920. 


XoTE — The  book  has  been  published  under  very  trying  circum- 
stances, produced,  in  the  main,  by  unsettled  labor  conditions.     This 


xii  PREFACE 

has  not  only  occasioned  delay  in  getting  the  history  ready  for  publi- 
cation, but  is,  possibly,  responsible  for  most  of  the  typographical 
and  mechanical  errors  that  appear  on  its  pages.  These  will  be 
easily  detected  and  corrected  by  the  careful  and  intelligent  reader. 
There  is,  however,  one  error  in  a  date  to  which  special  attention 
is  called.  It  occurs  in  the  sketch  of  Captain  Henry  Bowen,  Taze- 
well's most  distinguished  son,  on  page  636.  He  was  born  December 
26th,  1841,  and  not  in  "1815"  as  appears  in  the  sketch.  The  lines 
that  immediately  follow  the  incorrect  date  in  the  sketch  fully  expose 
and  correct  the  error. 


CONTENTS 


ABORIGINAL  PERIOD. 

Page 
I    Orig-in   of  the   Red  men;   their  distribution,  civilization, 

character,   etc - - - - "^'^^ 

II.  Nations  and  tribes  north  of  Mexico -     15-57 

III.  The  Indians;  their  civilization,  govemment,  manners,  and 

religion  58-69 

PERIOD  OF  DISCOVERY  AND  COLONIZATION. 

I.  Spanish  and  French  discoveries  and  conquests - 73-84 

II.  French  discoveries  and  settlements— 85-98 

III.  Birth  of  American  Nation — English  Settlement  at  James- 
town  99-129 

IV.  From  death  of  James  I  to  1676- - -  - 130-137 

V.  Bacon's  Rebellion  and  discovery  of  Shenandoah  Valley---138-151 

PIONEER  PERIOD. 

I.  Settlement  of  Shenandoah  and  Roanoke  Valleys - 155-170 

II.  The  Walker  and  Gist  expeditions -- 171-185 

III.  French  and  Indian  war-  — -186-203 

IV.  Drapers  Meadows  Massacre  and  other  Tragic  Incidents-.204-217 

V.  Holston  Valley  invaded  by  Indians— The   Sandy  expedi- 

tion    - - - 218-223 

VI.  Why  settlements  delayed  in  Clinch  Valley- -- -- 224-230 

VII.  The  Tazewell  Pioneer  .settlers -  - 231-270 

VIII.  Frontiers  of  Fincastle  County  invaded  by  Indians- 271-289 

IX.  Fincastle  men  called  for  Ohio  expedition— Indians  invade 

Clinch  and  Holston  settlements  - 290-310 

X.  Battle   of  Point   Pleasant — Kentucky  opened  for  settle- 
ment        311-334 

XL  The  Revolutionary  War - 335-352 

XII.  First   Constitutional    Convention — Declares    United    Col- 
onies   free    and    independent    States — Declaration    of 

Rights  and  Constitution  adopted - - 353-360 

Xin.  Kentucky,    Washington    and    Montgomery    counties    are 

formed   - - - 361-369 

XIV.  Clark's  expedition  to  Illinois,  and  Battle  of  King's  Moun- 
tain   - -  •- -370-397 


xiv  CONTENTS 


APPENDICES— PIONEER  PERIOD. 

Page 

A — Sketches  of  Pioneer  Families 401-433 

B — Massacres  by  Indians        -  - 434-468 

ANTE-BELLUM,  OR  FORMATIVE,  PERIOD. 

I.  Organization  of  Tazewell  County - - —471-485 

II.  Boundries  and  Topography  of  Tazewell  County-- 486-495 

III.  Interesting     sections    of    county — The    head    of    Clinch 

Valley 496-516 

IV.  Development  of  political,  social,  and  industrial  character 

of  its   people - 517-529 

V.  The   roads   of  Tazewell   County — Growth   in   population 

and  wealth,  etc.- - -530-546 

VI.  The  origin  and  descent  of  Tazewell  County 547-560 

V/AR  AND  RECONSTRUCTION  PERIOD. 

1.  Principal  causes  of  the  Civil  War     - 563-598 

II.  The  Harper's  Ferry  Insurrection- 585-592 

III.  The  Presidental  election  of  1860 — -593-598 

IV.  Virginia  holds  convention  and  secedes  from  Union 599-605 

V.  What  Tazewell  did  in  the  war—- 606-637 

Appendix  to  War  and  Reconstioiction  Period— 638-654 

POST  BELLUM,  OR  DEVELOPMENT,  PERIOD. 

I.  County  recovers  from  effects  of  Civil  War 657-664 

II.  Prosperity  returns  to  Tazewell  County -665-672 

Appendix — List  of  men  from  Tazewell  County  in  World 

War  1914— an-nv  and  navv 673-684 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

Osceola,  Indian  Chief - - 24 

Sequoya,  Cherokee  Indian- - -— 41 

Tecumseh,    Shawnee   Chief 49 

Plum  Creek  Valley,  Tazewell  County,  Va.- - 56 

Jamestown    Tower     — ...—  132 

Site  of  Thomas  Witten's  Cabin — - 233 

Campbell  House  at  Royal  Oak — 236 

Thomas  Witten's  Fort 242 

John  Witten's  Cabin. 244 

William  Wynne's  Fort 269 

Rees  Bowen  Homestead 296 

Statue  of  General  Andrew  Lewis 308 

Old  Powder  Magazine  at  Williamburg 351 

Colonel  Wilkinson  Witten 403 

Samuel   Cecil — 405 

Rees  T.  Bowen 408 

William   Moore 415 

Oscar  Moore,  Jr.,  on  "Rose" 416 

Major  David  Peery 419 

Residence  of  Major  Hai-vey  George  Peery ....'. ..  421 

Residence  of  Major  David  Peery 423 

Colonel  Archibald  Thompson 425 

First  Brick  House  Erected  in  Tazewell  County 431 

Site  of  Major  John  Taylor's  Cabin.... 439 

Apple  Tree  in  Abb's  Valley ,. 450 

Rock  Under  Which  Martha  Evans  Hid 453 

Squire  Thomas  Peery  and  Son 466 

Colonel   Henry   Bowen 473 

First  Plat  of  Town  of  Tazewell,  Va..-. 474 

Court  House  at  Tazewell,  Va. 484 

Residence  of  Colonel  Wilk  Witten.- 491 

Residence  of  Samuel  Cecil 492 

Mill  in  Plum  Creek  Gap 494 

Grounds  of  Tazewell  County  Fair  Association 497 

Tov/n  of  Tazewell,  Section  I 498 

To\^Ti  of  Tazewell,  Section  II 499 

Gap  at  Burke's  Garden 502 

Rev.  John  J.  Greever 503 

Floyd  Estate  in  Burke's  Garden 505 

Site  of  James  Burke's  Cabin 506 

Colonel  Peter  Litz 507 


xvi  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

Captain  George  G.  Goss -  - 508 

Major  Otis  Caldwell  - - 512 

Charles  Fitzgerald  TifTany 515 

Walnut  Log  from  Tazewell  County,  Va.-- 527 

Loom  and  Wheels  - - 528 

Plum  Creek   Gap- 532 

Residence  of  Colonel  Harvey  George- 533 

"Hubble   Hill" - - 534 

Main  Street,  Tazewell,  Va - - - -- 535 

Dorset  Lambs  from  Tazewell  County,  Va 537 

John   Warfield    Johnston - -- 539 

High  School  at  Tazewell,  Va - 543 

Major  Rufus  Brittain 545 

William   P.   Cecil -  599 

Judge  Samuel  L.  Graham  600 

Captain  William  E.  Peery 607 

Walnut  Tree  at  Wm.  E.  Peery's - - 608 

Captain  Charles  A.  Fudge 610 

Dr.  John  S.  Pendleton  and  Wm.  C.  Pendleton 612 

Home  of  Mrs.  Henry  S.  Bowen-  - --  614 

Colonel  Andrew  J.  May 616 

Captain  David  G.  Sayers 617 

Major  Thomas  P.  Bowen - - 624 

Colonel  William  L.  Graham - 627 

Colonel  Robert  Smith  - - - - 630 

Captain  Henry  Bowen - 636 

Colonel  Joseph  Harrison - 639 

Colonel  Titus  V.  Williams - - - --- - 640 

Colonel  Edwin  Houston  Harman -  641 

Captain  D.  B.  Baldwin -- -  643 

Captain  John  H.  Whitley - 644 

Captain  Jonathan  Hankins - -  645 

Captain  James  S.  Peery -  647 

Captain  A.  J.  TjTies - 648 

Captain  John  Thompson - 649 

Captain  James  P.  Whitman --  650 

Residence  of  Thomas  Witten,  third — - - 657 

Doctor  George   Ben  Johnston - 659 

Doctor  Samuel  Cecil  Bowen 666 

"An  Old  Virginia  Road" - -  670 


The  Aboriginal  Period 


Which  Treats  of  the  Origin  of  the  American 

Indians,  their  Forms  of  Government, 

Civilization,  Religion,  etc. 


History  of  Tazewell  County  and 
Southwest  Virginia 

ABORIGINAL  PERIOD 


CHAPTER  I. 


ORIGIN    OF    THE    RED    MEN,    THEIR    DISTRIBUTION, 
CIVILIZATION,    CHARACTER,    ETC. 

There  is  one  thing  connected  with  the  discovery  of  America 
which  has  been  settled  beyond  dispute  by  historians ;  and  that  is 
that  the  American  aborigines  received  their  name  from  Christopher 
Columbus.  When  the  great  navigator  started  out  from  Palos  with 
his  three  little  ships,  manned  with  one  hundred  and  twenty  men,  his 
main  purpose  was  to  travel  to  India  by  sailing  a  westward  course. 
After  a  trying  and  thrilling  voyage  of  seventy-one  days,  on  the  12th 
of  October,  1192,  Columbus  landed  on  one  of  tbe  Bahamas,  took 
possession  of  the  island  for  Spain,  and  named  it  San  Salvador. 
He  there  foimd  a  tribe  of  natives  whom  he  called  Indians,  believ- 
ing he  had  reached  the  shores  of  the  Asiatic  Continent  and  had 
landed  upon  the  eastern  coast  of  India. 

Much  has  been  surmised  and  a  vast  deal  written  about  the  origin 
of  the  Red  Men  who  were  the  primitive  inhabitants  of  the  American 
Continent.  All  historians  have  agreed  that  they  are  one  of  the 
older  races  of  mankind,  but  whether  they  are  indigenous  to  this 
continent,  or  are  the  descendants  of  an  Asiatic  race  is  still  not 
only  a  matter  of  dispute  but  seems  likely  to  remain  for  all  future 
time  an  unsolved  problem. 

Some  of  the  most  profound  and  ardent  students  of  mankind 
have  confidently  asserted  that  the  American  Indians  are  a  distinct 
variety  of  the  human  race.  Among  these  are  Blumenbach,  the 
eminent  German  naturalist,  and  Samuel  George  Morton,  the  dis- 
tinguished American  ethnologist.  On  the  other  hand  quite  a  number 
of  able  and  celebrated  ethnologists,  philologists  and  anthropologists 
have  asserted  with  equal  positiveness  that  the  Indians  of  both 
North  and  South  America  are  descendants  of  the  Mongolian  family 
and  came  here  from  Asia.  But  when  they  reached  this  continent 
or  by  what  route  they  traveled  is  completely  enveloped  in  mystery. 

13] 


4  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Dr.  Robert  Brown,  wlio  has  been  re,ii^arded  as  one  of  the  most  acoom- 
plishedj  as  he  is  one  of  the  latest  writers  on  the  subject,  in  liis 
"Races  of  Mankind"  expresses  firm  conviction  tliat  tlie  American 
race  is  of  Asiatic  origin.     He  says: 

"Not  only  are  the  Western  Indians  in  appearance  very  like 
their  nearest  neighbors,  the  Northeastern  Asiatics,  but  in  language 
and  tradition,  it  is  confidentl}'  affirmed  there  is  a  blending  of  the 
people.  The  Eskimo,  on  the  American,  and  tlie  Tchuktcliis.  on 
the  Asiatic  side  understand  each  otlicr  perfectly." 

Modern  anthropologists,  who  upliold  the  theory  of  Asiatic 
origin,  are  of  opinion  that  the  ancestors  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
American  race  came  here  from  Japan,  the  Kuriles  and  the  regions 
thereabout.  Baron  Humboldt,  one  of  the  greatest  scientists  the 
world  has  ever  produced,  after  traveling  extensively  in  South 
America,  Mexico,  Cuba  and  parts  of  the  United  States,  said  this 
about  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  : 

"The  Indians  of  New  Spain  bear  a  general  resemblance  to  those 
who  inhabit  Canada.  Florida,  Peru  and  Brazil.  We  think  we  per- 
ceive them  all  to  be  descended  from  the  same  stock,  notwithstanding 
the  prodigious  diversity  of  their  languages.  In  a  portrait  drawn 
by  Volney  of  tlic  Canadians  we  recognize  I  lie  tribe  scattered  over 
the  Savannahs  of  the  Apure  and  thi'  Caroncy.  The  same  style  of 
features  exists  in  botli  Americas." 

It  is  a  notable  fact  that  the  ^Mongolian  cast  of  feature  is  most 
jjronounced  in  the  Indian  tribes  nearest  the  Mongol  coasts,  that  is 
on  our  Pacific  coast ;  and  becomes  less  distinct  as  we  trace  the 
tribes  eastward  to  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic.  And  it  is  a  generally 
accepted  historic  fact  that  the  tribes  on  the  eastern  seaboard  gave 
as  one  of  their  traditions  that  their  ancestors  came  from  the  West, 
while  the  Western  tribes  claimed  that  their  progenitors  came  from 
regions  still  further  West.  Though  there  were  at  the  period  about 
which  Humboldt  was  writing  hundreds  of  tribes  among  the  American 
Indians,  all  of  them  bore  a  striking  similarity  of  physical  structure, 
personal  characteristics,  and  languages.  This  similarity  of  lan- 
guages led  Albert  Gallatin  to  say: 

"Amidst  that  great  diversity  of  American  languages,  considered 
onlv  in  reference  to  tlieir  vocabularies,  tlie  similaritv  of  their  struc- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  5 

liiro  and  grammatical  forms  lias  been  observed  and  ])ointed  out  bv 
the  American  ))biloIogists.  The  result  appears  to  confirm  tlie 
opinions  already  entertained  by  Ponceau,  Mr.  Pickering  and  others; 
and  to  prove  tliat  all  the  languages,  not  only  of  our  own  Indians, 
but  of  the  native  inhabitants  of  America,  from  the  Arctic  Ocean  to 
Cape  Horn,  liave.  as  far  as  they  have  been  investigated,  a  distinct 
character  common  to  all.  and  ajiparently  differing  from  any  of  those 
of  the  other  continents  with  which  we  are  most  familiar." 

That  all  the  Indians  of  both  American  continents  were  of 
common  origin  is  indicated  not  only  by  similarity  of  the  structure 
and  grammatical,  forms  of  their  languages,  but  by  the  strong 
resemblance  of  their  physical  characteristics.  These  have  been 
described  as  follows : 

"A  square  head,  with  low  but  broad  forehead,  the  back  of  the 
head  flattened,  full  face  and  powerful  j  aws ;  cheek-bones  prominent, 
lips  full,  ej'es  dark  and  deepl^y  set ;  the  hair  long,  not  absolutely 
straight,  but  wavy,  something  like  a  horse's  mane,  and  like  that,  of  a 
glossy  hue;  little  or  no  beard,  where  it  does  appear  carefully  eradi- 
cated with  tweezers ;  color  of  the  skin  reddish  or  co^^per,  height  of 
the  men  about  the  average,  but  looking  taller  from  their  erect  pos- 
ture and  slender  figure ;  the  women  rather  shorter  and  more  inclined 
to  obesity,  but  many  of  them  with  symmetrical  figure  and  pleasing 
countenance;  hands  and  feet  of  both  men  and  women  small," 

Though  the  learned  men  who  have  carefully  studied  and  investi- 
gated the  aborigines  of  America  have  differed  sharply  as  to  how 
this  pecidiar  race  originated,  some  holding  that  it  was  indigenous 
and  others  that  it  was  of  Mongolian  descent,  all  such  ethnologists 
and  philologists  have  agreed  that  it  had  a  common  origin.  Therefore 
it  has  been  a  matter  of  surprise  to  those  who  have  been  interested 
investigators  of  its  history  to  find  that  but  three  of  the  many  nations 
of  the  American  race  had  attained  any  considerable  degree  of  civil- 
ization when  they  first  became  known  to  the  white  men. 

When  Hernando  Cortes,  in  1519,  with  his  cruelly  avaricious 
but  desperately  courageous  band  of  Spaniards,  invaded  Mexico,  he 
found  there  a  large  and  intelligent  nation,  ruled  over  by  an  emperor, 
living  in  walled  cities,  with  sumptuous  residences,  splendid  palaces, 
and  magnificent  temples.  This  people,  called  the  Aztecs,  liad  a 
code  of  fixed  laws,  and  were  skilled  in  some  of  the  arts  and  sciences. 


6  History  of  Tazewell  County 

especially  astronomy.  They  were  excellent  argiculturists,  engaged 
extensively  in  mining  the  precious  metals,  and  exhibited  much  skill 
in  the  manufacture  of  both  useful  and  ornamental  articles.  His- 
torians, from  what  they  deem  satisfactory  record  and  traditional 
evidence,  affirm  that  tlie  Aztecs  wandered  into  Mexico  in  the  twelfth 
century,  and  succeeded  the  Toltecs.  another  tribe  of  the  mysterious 
American  race.  The  Toltecs  are  said  to  have  entered  Mexico  in  the 
seventh  century.  Both  of  these  tribes  or  families  had  come  from 
the  same  hive  in  the  North,  just  as  the  Saxons,  Danes,  and  Normans, 
successively,  journeyed  from  Scandinavia  and  ultimately  landed  in 
England. 

The  Toltecs,  the  predecessors  of  the  Aztecs,  judging  from  the 
monuments  and  other  indicia  they  left  behind  them  in  Mexico,  and 
the  immense  architectural  remains  of  the  temples  they  built  in 
Central  America,  were  moi*e  advanced  in  civilization  than  were  their 
successors,  the  Aztecs. 

The  Toltecs  were  so  skilled  in  architecture  that  the  name  Toltec 
has  been  pronounced  the  synonym  of  architect.  They  were  skillful 
agriculturists  and  introduced  maize  and  cotton  into  Mexico.  In 
making  record  of  events  they  used  hieroglyphics,  and  left  ample 
monuments  to  prove  that  they  were  skilled  in  the  arts  and  sciences. 
They  knew  how  to  fuse  metals,  to  cut  and  polish  the  hardest  stones, 
to  manufacture  earthenware,  and  weave  many  kinds  of  fabrics.  It 
is  an  astonishing  fact  that  they  had  knowledge  of  the  causes  of 
eclipses,  made  wonderful  sun-dials,  had  a  simple  system  of  notation, 
and  measured  time  by  a  solar  year  of  365  days.  The  Toltecs  were 
a  people  of  a  gentle,  peaceful  disposition,  but  very  industrious  and 
enterprising.  Their  laws  were  simple  but  justly  administered,  and 
their  religion  was  of  a  mild  form.  Why  and  when  they  left  Mexico 
has  not  been  definitely  settled;  but  it  seems  certain  that  they 
migrated  to  Central  America,  perhaps  impelled  by  the  nomadic 
instincts  inherited  from  their  Asiatic  progenitors. 

In  the  matter  of  religion  the  Aztecs  were  very  much  fiercer  and 
more  barbarous  in  their  practices  than  their  predecessors,  the 
Toltecs.  They  believed  in  one  supreme  creator  and  ruler  of  the 
universe,  but  this  sublime  faith  was  strangely  mingled  with  a  belief 
that  hundreds  of  inferior  divinities  existed  under  the  control  of  the 
supreme  divinity.  Not  only  were  the  Aztecs  heathenish,  but  they 
w  ere  cannibalistic  in  the  practice  of  their  religious  ceremonies ;  and 
they  were  the  only  family  of  the  American  race  who  offered  up 


and  Southwest  Virginia  7 

human  sacrifices.  It  is  related  by  historians  that  in  the  immediate 
years  preceding  the  Spanish  invasion  and  conquest  of  Mexico,  the 
Aztecs  sacrificed  twenty  thousand  liuman  beings  annually  upon 
their  altars.  The  sacrificial  ceremonies  were  performed  by  their 
priests  on  the  summits  of  their  temples,  and  in  the  presence  of  vast 
throngs  of  worshipers.  A  victim  was  bound  to  the  sacrificial  stone, 
the  breast  was  cut  open  and  the  heart  torn  out.  This  vital  organ 
of  the  human  sacrifice  was  either  placed  before  an  image  of  their 
gods,  or,  after  being  cut  into  small  pieces  and  mingled  with  maiz, 
was  distributed  to  the  assembled  worshipers  to  eat.  It  was  a  kind 
of  sacramental  ceremony.  This  strange  admixture  of  a  high  con- 
ception of  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  Universe  and  a  sanguinary 
superstition  which  induced  them  to  sacrifice  human  beings  to  their 
plural  gods  puts  the  Aztecs  in  a  distinct  class  among  the  numerous 
tribes  of  the  American  race  called  Indians. 

THE    CONQUEST   OF    PEKU    BY   PIZARRO. 

Peru,  now  one  of  the  Latin  Republics  of  South  America,  was 
enjoying  its  second  phase  of  civilization  when  Francisco  Pizarro, 
the  Spanish  adventurer,  in  1531,  invaded  that  country  with  his 
reckless  band  of  freebooters.  There  were  only  one  hundred  and 
eighty  men  in  his  expeditionary  force,  of  whom  twenty-seven  were 
cavalry.  Pizarro  had  been  incited  to  make  the  daring  attempt  to 
conquer  a  native  empire  from  knowledge  of  what  Cortes  had  accom- 
plished in  Mexico.  He  had  accompanied  Balboa  when  he  crossed 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama  in  1513,  and  was  with  that  cavalier  when 
he  first  viewed  from  a  mountain  top  the  great  ocean  which  he  named 
the  South  Sea,  but  which  Magellan  a  few  years  later  called  the 
Pacific.  Pizarro's  ambition  had  also  been  greatly  excited  by  rumors 
that  came  to  him  of  a  wonderful  country  still  further  South,  where 
silver  and  gold  were  found  in  as  great  abundance  as  iron  in  Spain. 
Inspired  by  these  reports,  with  a  small  company  of  followers,  he 
made  a  visit  to  Peru  in  1526  for  the  purpose  of  spying  out  that 
country;  and  had  returned  to  Panama  with  satisfactory  evidence 
that  the  immense  wealth  of  the  land  in  precious  metals  had  not  been 
exaggerated.  The  generous  natives,  who  had  never  seen  a  white 
man  until  Pizzarro  and  his  companions  visited  them  in  an  assumed 
friendly  way,  gave  him  valuable  and  beautiful  ornaments  made  from 
gold  and  silver ;  and  also  liberal  specimens  of  fine  cloth,  of  brilliant 


8  History  of  Tazewdl  Count}' 

hue,  made  from  the  wool  of  llamas  and  alpatas.  Very  soon  after 
this  visit  of  discovery  Pizarro  traveled  to  Spain  and  exhibited  these 
specimens  to  Charles  V.  and  his  ministers ;  and  revealed  to  them 
what  he  had  seen  of  the  enormous  wealth  in  the  land  of  the  Incas. 
The  Spanish  monarch  and  his  court  were  so  dee^ily  impressed  with 
the  glowing  representations  of  Pizarro.  he  was  invested  with  num- 
erous honorable  titles,  among  them  being  that  of  governor  and  cap- 
tain general  of  Peru.  Having  so  successfully  accomplished  his 
mission  to  the  Spanish  Court,  the  first  governor  of  Peru  returned  to 
Panama,  accompanied  by  a  band  of  adventurers  who  had  been  lured 
to  his  banner  by  reports  of  the  large  quantities  of  gold  and  silver 
possessed  by  the  Incas  and  their  people.  At  Panama  the  intrepid 
adventurer  gathered  together  one  hundred  and  eighty  men.  twenty- 
seven  horses  for  his  cavalry,  and  a  fairly  good  equipment  of  arms 
and  ammunition.  These  were  gotten  aboard  three  small  vessels, 
and  the  eventful  expedition  to  the  country  of  the  Peruvians  was 
started.  Upon  arrival  in  Peru  with  his  small  but  well  equipped 
force  of  soldiers,  the  Spanish  conquerer  promptly  revealed  his 
treacherous  nature  to  the  people  he  had  visited  a  few  years  prev- 
iously with  seeming  friendly  intention.  He  proceeded  to  torture, 
kill,  and  rob  the  natives  U7itil  lie  succe«'dcd  in  crushing  the  spirit  of 
the  nation.  Tluis  was  the  splendid  empire  of  the  Incas  brought 
under  Spanish  rule,  as  liad  been  tliat  of  Montezuma  hi  Mexico  by 
the  ruthless  conquest  of  Hernando  Cortes. 

The  civilization  of  the  Peruvians  in  many  respects  was  of  a 
higher  type  than  was  that  of  the  Aztecs.  I'rom  traditions  of  the 
aboriginal  inhabitants  it  is  known  that  Manco,  the  first  Inca,  with 
his  wife,  Mama  Oella.  mysteriously  appeared  to  the  superstitious 
natives  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Titicaca.  Manco  told  the  astonished 
natives  that  he  and  his  wife  were  children  of  tlie  Sun.  and  declared 
that  they  had  been  sent  by  their  god  Ita  (the  Sun)  to  instruct  and 
rule  the  people  who  dwelt  in  that  region.  They  accepted  his  state- 
ments as  true,  and  willingly  became  his  subjects.  Manco  kept  his 
M'ord  by  instructing  the  people  in  agriculture  and  the  arts.  He  gave 
them  a  pure  religion  and  established  an  excellent  social  and  national 
organization.  Mama  Oella  taught  the  women  to  spin,  weave  and 
sew,  and  trained  them  in  what  is  now  called  domestic  science. 
Investigators  and  historians  are  convinced  that  Manco  and  his  wife 
were  white  persons.  That  they  could  have  reached  a  country  so 
rcniotc.   sejiaratcd   l)y   l)r<)a(i   oceans   that    no   mariner  liad    then   e\-er 


and  Southwest  Virginia  9 

cTosst'd  from  the  cotitiiu'nts  wliere  the  white  races  lived,  seems  not 
only  improbable  but  impossible.  If,  however,  the  traditions  of  the 
aborigines  are  substantially  true  as  to  the  appearance  of  Manco 
and  Mama  Oella,  they  were  of  a  race  entirely  different  from  the 
natives,  and  must  have  been  white.  The  simple  and  superstitious 
natives  were  even  disposed  to  believe  that  Pizarro  and  liis  cutthroat 
band  were  children  of  the  gods,  because  of  their  personal  appearance. 

The  government  which  Manco  established  was  in  the  nature  of 
a  mild  but  positive  despotism.  It  constituted  the  Inca  head  of  the 
priesthood,  gave  him  authority  to  impose  taxes  and  made  him  the 
absolute  source  of  all  governmental  power.  His  empire  was  divided 
into  four  very  extensive  provinces,  each  of  these  being  presided  over 
by  a  viceroy  or  governor.  The  nation  was  further  divided  into 
departments  of  ten  thousand  inhabitants,  and  each  of  the  depart- 
ments had  a  governor.  In  fact,  the  subdivisions  were  so  extended 
as  to  embrace  within  the  least  departments  as  few  as  ten  persons. 

There  was  also  an  advanced  agrarian  princi])le  engrafted  upon 
the  government  which  Manco  founded.  No  private  ownership  of 
land  was  permitted.  All  the  lands  were  allotted  each  year,  one-third 
of  the  territory  of  the  empire  being  set  apart  for  the  Sun,  the  Inea. 
and  the  people,  respectively.  The  lands  allotted  to  the  Sun  were 
for  the  support  of  the  temples  of  this  god,  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  the  costly  religious  ceremonials  and  maintain  ihe  multitude  of 
priests  who  had  charge  of  the  temples  and  conducted  the  ceremonies. 
Those  lands  set  apart  for  the  Inca  were  to  support  his  royal  state 
and  household,  and  defray  the  general  expenses  of  the  government. 
The  remaining  third  of  the  lands  was  a})pi)rti(MU(l.  per  capita,  in 
equal  shares  among  all  the  people.  The  allotments  made  to  heads 
of  families  were  a])portioned  according  to  the  number  of  persons  in 
each  family.  It  is  stated  that  this  system  of  annual  distribution 
developed  such  excellent  agricultural  methods  that  the  soil  was  made 
more  productive  instead  of  depleting  its  fertility.  The  sandy  lands 
along  the  seacoast.  that  originally  were  of  no  agricultural  value, 
were  transformed  into  ]iroductive  fields  and  rich  pastures.  This 
was  accomj^lished  by  a  system  of  artificial  irrigation  of  such  magni- 
tude as  the  world  has  never  seen  equaled.  Water  was  conveyed 
from  mountain  lakes  and  streams  to  the  sandy  waste  lands  by  the 
use  of  aqueducts,  and  distributed  through  canals  sin)ilar  to  thost 
used  by  the  ancient  Egyptians,  and  like  those  now  employed  in  the 
arid   sections   of   the   United   States   east   of   the   Rocky   Mountains. 


10  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Several  of  the  Peruvian  aqueducts  were  between  four  hundred  and 
five  hundred  miles  long.  The  ruins  of  some  of  them  still  attest  the 
marvelous  skill  and  energy  of  the  people  who  constructed  them 
without  the  aid  of  iron  or  steel  tools  or  machinery  of  any  kind. 
How  they  performed  such  stupendous  tasks  is  likely  to  remain  as 
great  mystery  as  the  building  of  the  Egyptian  pyramids. 

The  religion  of  the  Peruvians,  though  of  pagan  form,  was  of  a 
higher  type  than  that  of  most  heathen  nations.  They  worshipped, 
as  did  the  Aztecs  and  as  still  do  the  unconverted  tribes  of  North 
America,  a  Great  Spirit,  whom  they  adored  as  the  Author  and 
Ruler  of  the  Universe.  He,  they  piouslj'^  believed  could  not  be 
symbolized  by  an  image  nor  be  made  to  dwell  in  a  temple  erected 
by  mortal  men.  They  also  believed  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul 
and  the  resurrection  of  the  body  after  death.  Like  the  Aztecs, 
however,  they  worshipped  secondary  gods,  of  whom  they  recognized 
the  Sun  as  chief. 

That  the  Peruvians  had  some  very  skillful  goldsmiths  and  silver- 
smiths was  attested  by  the  many  beautiful  ornaments  they  made 
from  the  precious  metals  to  adorn  their  palaces  and  temples.  Many 
of  these  ornaments  were  exquisitely  designed  representations  of 
human  and  other  forms,  and  of  plants,  all  fashioned  with  accuracy 
as  to  form  and  feature.  They  also  had  highly  skilled  cutters  and 
polishers  of  precious  stones,  and  used  them  to  fashion  images  of 
brillianth^  colored  birds,  serpents,  lizards  and  other  things,  the 
stones  being  cut  and  arranged  with  as  much  skill  as  the  most  accom- 
plished artists  of  Paris  and  Amsterdam  have  ever  exhibited. 

Previous  to  the  advent  of  the  Incas  there  was  another  large  and 
highly  civilized  nation  that  occupied  Peru.  Historians  and  ethnol- 
ogists have  never  found  the  name  of  this  people,  know  nothing  of 
their  origin,  and  have  to  rest  satisfied  with  referring  to  them  as  the 
pre-incarial  nation,  or  nations.  They  had  a  civilization,  a  language, 
and  a  religion  that  were  different  from  those  of  the  incarial  nation. 
That  they  lived  in  large  cities  is  proven  by  the  splendid  architec- 
tural remains,  sculptures,  carvings  and  other  specimens  of  art  that 
have  been  viewed  with  amazement  by  archeologists  who  explored  the 
ruins  of  these  ancient  cities.  The  most  diligent  efforts  of  scientific 
investigators  have  failed  to  disclose  from  what  regions  these  pre- 
incarial  nations  came  and  from  which  race  of  mankind  they  sprang. 
Therefore  they  will  have  to  be  classed  as  a  prehistoric  race,  just 


and  Southwest  Virginia  11 

as  have  been  the  cave-dwellers  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the 
mound-builders  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

The  Mexican  and  Peruvian  aborigines,  like  the  ancient  Egypt- 
ians, made  use  of  hieroglyphics  instead  of  letters  to  record  events 
and  give  expresjsion  to  their  languages.  It  is  what  lias  been  termed 
picture  writing,  and  the  pictures  used  were  representations  of 
natural  or  artificial  objects — such  as  celestial  bodies,  animals,  fishes. 
reptiles,  flowers,  plants,  the  human  form,  works  of  art,  and  a  num- 
erous variety  of  things.  Among  the  Aztecs  the  women  as  well  as 
the  men  were  taught  the  art  of  reading  and  writing  the  hiero- 
glyphics. The  women  were  also  instructed  in  ciphering,  singing  and 
dancing,  and  even  taught  the  secrets  of  astronomy  and  astrology. 
Their  method  of  writing  was  so  crude  and  grotesque  and  the  system 
of  notation  so  imperfect  as  to  make  them  very  inadequate  for  prac- 
tical purposes. 

When  it  is  known  that  the  Mexican  and  Peruvian  Indians 
acquired  so  many  of  the  elements  of  civilization,  it  is  hard  to  under- 
stand why  their  attainments  were  not  extended  to  some  of  the  many 
other  tribes  of  their  race  that  occupied  or  roamed  over  all  sections 
of  the  North  and  South  American  continents.  The  various  tribes, 
especially  the  Toltecs,  who  inhabited  Central  America,  were 
evidently  a  useful  connecting  link  for  uniting  the  civilizations  of 
Mexico  and  Peru;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  Central  American 
tribes  imparted  more  than  they  received  from  their  kindred  nations 
of  the  Northern  and  Southern  continents. 

The  civilizations  of  these  three  great  nations  of  the  American 
aborigines,  the  Toltecs,  the  Aztecs  and  the  Peruvians,  partook  more 
of  the  nature  of  a  refined  barbarism  than  of  the  type  of  civilization 
that  developed  in  Europe  after  the  Christian  era  began;  and  they 
were  very  deficient  in  intellectual  and  moral  force.  There  were 
several  potential  causes  for  these  deficiences.  One  of  these  was  the 
forms  of  their  religions,  which  were  fundamentally  mythological  and 
consequently  active  breeders  of  superstition.  The  religions  of  the 
native  Mexicans  and  Peruvians  were  intensely  superstitious;  and 
conspired  to  make  them  seclusive  or  hermit  nations,  similar  to 
Japan  before  its  policy  of  isolation  was  destroyed  by  Commodore 
Perry  in  1853. 

Another  reason  for  the  restriction  of  the  civilization  of  the 
Mexicans  and  Peruvians  to  their  own  nations  was  their  failure  to 
invent  and  make  use  of  an  alphabet,  and  tlieir  resultant  inability 


12  History  of  Tazewell  County 

to  express  themselves  with  words  or  a  plionetic  written  language. 
Without  an  alphabet  and  a  written  language  they  could  make  no 
satisfactory  record  of  important  events  tliat  oc-urred  in  their  national 
life ;  and,  therefore,  could  not  communicate  what  they  had  accumu- 
lated to  neighboring  tribes,  or  even  transmit  it  to  their  own  posterity, 
except  by  tradition. 

Another  verjf^  substantial  reason  why  the  JNIcxicans  and  Peru- 
\  ians  did  not  reach  a  higher  standard  of  civilization,  nor  impart 
what  they  had  to  other  tribes  of  their  race,  was  that  they  had  no 
monetary  system,  no  medium  of  exchange  in  the  shape  of  metallic 
tokens  that  represented  specific  and  intrinsic  values.  The  vast 
quantities  of  silver  and  gold  these  ]>coples  had  accumulated  during 
the  centuries  that  preceded  the  Spanish  conquests  were  used  almost 
exclusively  for  ornamentation  of  their  temples  and  palaces,  for 
making  images  of  their  gods,  and  for  ornaments  for  their  persons. 
Tlu'  Peruvians  had  no  knowledge  whatever  of  money  and  no  medium 
of  exchange;  but  the  Aztecs  had  a  kind  of  currency  which  they  used 
in  connection  with  their  barter  transactions.  It  consisted  of  small 
pieces  of  tin  stamped  with  a  character  like  a  T,  bags  of  cacao 
(chocolate  seeds),  valued  according  to  the  size  of  the  bags;  and 
small  transparent  quills  filled  with  gold  dust.  This  currency  sys- 
tem was  not  superior  to  that  of  the  North  American  tribes  who  used 
shells  and  beads,  called  wampum,  for  money ;  and  was  no  better 
than  the  coon-skin  currency  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  this  country. 
Neither  of  the  nations  had  any  knowledge  of  numerals  or  figures 
for  keeping  accounts  and  business  transactions,  nor  did  they  have 
a  system  of  weights  and  measures. 

The  highest  forms  of  civilization  that  existed  among  the  nations 
of  the  Old  World  were  developed  by  the  peoples  that  were  imbued 
with  a  spirit  of  commercialism;  and  who  possessed  the  requisites 
for  conducting  business  transactions,  that  is  a  written  language,  a 
monetary  system  and  a  knowledge  of  numerals.  All  historians  who 
have  studied  and  written  about  the  ancient  nations  of  the  world  have 
agreed  that  the  Phoenecians  were  the  first  to  become  noted  as  a 
great  commercial  and  maritime  people,  and  to  engage  extensively 
in  foreig-n  commerce.  At  a  very  early  period  their  trade  in  manu- 
factured articles  and  other  products  extended  over  the  best  known 
parts  of  the  continents  of  Asia,  Africa  and  Europe.  It  is  conceded 
that  the  Phoenecians  were  the  first  nation  that  invented  and  made 
practical   use   of   an    alphabet,   which    was   destined   to  become   the 


aiitl  Southwest  Virginia  13 

model  foi'  all  Kuropean  and  American  alphabets.  Being  tlie  first 
to  have  an  alphabet,  the  Phoenecians  were  the  first  nation  to  have 
a  written  language  and  a  literature.  These  aequisitions  served  to 
stimulate  invention,  give  impulse  to  industry  and  generate  a  eoni- 
mereial  spirit,  thereby  supplying  the  most  essential  factors  for  the 
building  of  a  liigh  and  progressive  civilization.  The  aboriginal 
inhabitants  of  Mexico  and  Peru  did  not  have  these  indispensibles. 
Consequently  the  form  of  civilization  they  acquired  was  very  imper- 
fect. It  was  purely  instinctive,  the  outcome  of  natural  impidse, 
rather  than  the  evohenient  of  mental  processes;  and  tended  to  make 
these  greatest  nations  of  tlie  American  Indians  physically  and 
mentally  weak. 

Three  thousand  years  before  the  Spaniards  invaded  Mexico 
and  Peru  the  Phoenecians  had  established  intimate  commercial  rela- 
tions with  the  Iberians  and  Celts  who  then  inhabited  Spain.  A  num- 
ber of  'colonies  from  Phoenecia  were  established  on  the  seacoast 
of  Iberia,  now  Spain.  Thus  there  was  infused  into  the  inhabitants 
of  Spain  the  elements  of  civilization  that  had  made  the  Phoenecians 
rank  first  among  the  nations  of  ancient  times.  At  the  time  Columbus 
became  the  discoverer  of  America,  Spain  was  the  leading  com- 
mercial and  maritime  nation  of  Europe,  and  was  the  greatest  mili- 
tary and  naval  power  of  the  world.  In  addition  to  that  which  Spain 
had  procured  from  the  Phoenecians,  she  had  received  from  the 
Arabs  what  are  kno"wn  by  the  distinctive  name  of  Arabic  Numerals, 
the  nine  figures  or  digits  and  the  zero  that  have  been  used  for  cen- 
turies by  nearly  all  civilized  nations  in  their  arithmetical  calcu- 
lations. 

The  civilization  of  the  Spaniards  was  of  a  very  strong  type, 
having  been  created  by  the  intellectual  development  of  its  people, 
wliile  that  of  the  tliree  greatest  nations  of  the  American  race  was 
superficial  and  weak,  of  spontaneous  or  instinctive  growth.  When 
these  two  entirely  different  forms  of  civilization  met  in  mental  and 
physical  conflict  the  stronger,  with  its  higher  developed  mental 
facidties.  and  trained  soldiers,  who  were  armed  with  cannon,  guns. 
and  swords  and  spears  of  tempered  and  polished  steel,  easily 
defeated  the  weaker  people,  burdened  with  pagan  superstition  and 
who  were  fighting  with  the  same  simple  weapons  their  ancestors 
had  used  many  centuries  before. 

It  will  not  be  amiss  for  the  writer  to  here  make  known  his  reason 
for  so  freely  discussing  the  types  of  civilization  that  existed  among 


14  History  of  Tazewell  County 

the  aborigines  of  Mexico  and  Peru  when  in  their  zenith.  This  has 
been  done  with  a  view  of  directing  equal  attention  to  the  best  forms 
of  civilization  that  were  found  among  some  of  the  leading  tribes  of 
Indians  who  inhabited  the  North  American  Continent  previous  to 
its  discovery  and  settlement  by  men  of  the  white  race.  This  will 
give  opportunity,  by  comparison,  to  analyze  and  exemplify  the 
wonderful  accomplishments  of  the  pioneer  settlers,  and  the  steady 
progress  made  by  their  descendants  since  Tazewell  County  became 
an  organized  society. 


CHAPTER  II. 

NATIONS  AND  TRIBES  NORTH  OF  MEXICO. 

Philologists  and  historians  have,  without  a  dissenting  voice, 
agreed  that  the  North  American  Indians  were  divided  into  a  number 
of  distinct  families;  and  that  each  of  these  families  was  subdivided 
into  numerous  subordinate  tribes.  Every  subordinate  tribe  had  its 
own  dialect;  and  it  is  known  that  more  than  five  hundred  different 
dialects  were  used  by  the  aborigines.  There  were  also  many  differ- 
ences in  traditions,  habits,  and  social  forms  among  the  numerous 
tribes. 

THE    ESKIMO. 

So  far  as  has  been  ascertained,  the  Eskimo  ever  since  their 
tribal  or  family  organizations  were  established  have  inhabited  the 
Arctic  regions  of  the  North  American  Continent.  They  have  had 
very  sparse  settlements  above  the  sixtieth  parallel  of  latitude,  are 
scattered  across  the  continent  from  Labrador  to  Alaska,  and  even 
extending  to  Siberia.  The  Eskimo  also  inhabit  the  Asiatic  side  of 
Behring's  Strait;  and  the  people  on  both  sides  of  the  strait  are 
pronouncedly  Mongolian  in  feature.  Being  the  only  family  common 
to  both  continents,  they  are  claimed  by  many  ethnologists  to  be  an 
indisputable  link  connecting  the  Mongols  of  Asia  and  the  Indians 
of  America. 

The  Eskimo  are  of  medium  stature  but  are  very  strong,  and  have 
great  powers  of  endurance.  Their  skin  is  of  a  light  brownish  or 
yellow  color  and  tinted  with  red  on  the  exposed  parts.  They  have 
small,  well  formed  hands  and  feet,  and  their  eyes,  like  nearly  all 
the  American  tribes,  have  a  Mongolian  character,  which  confirms 
most  ethnologists  in  the  belief  that  they  are  of  Asiatic  origin.  Their 
permanent  settlements  are  so  located  as  to  be  near  the  best  hunting 
and  fishing  grounds.  In  summer  time  they  hunt  caribou,  musk-ox. 
and  different  kinds  of  birds;  and  in  the  winter  they  subsist  mainly 
on  fish  and  sea  mammals,  principally  the  seal  that  abound  in  the 
Arctic  regions. 

The  Eskimo  are  of  a  very  peacable  disposition,  are  very  truthful. 
and  remarkably  honest,  but  are  extremely  lax  in  their  practices  of 
sexual  morality.  Their  dwellings  in  the  summer  are  made  of  deer 
or  seal  skins  stretched  over  poles,  and  in  the  winter  they  make  shal- 

[15] 


16  History  of  Tazewell  County 

low  excavations  in  tlie  earth  and  use  either  wood  or  whale  ribs  for 
a  frameworkj  which  they  cover  with  turf.  Many  of  their  winter 
huts  are  built  with  snow. 

The  social  organization  of  this  peculiar  people  is  very  loose, 
the  village  being  the  largest  unit^  while  in  matters  of  government 
each  settlement  is  independent^  a  pure  form  of  local  self-govern- 
ment. There  are  no  chiefs  as  found  with  the  tribes  of  the  American 
natives  who  lived  south  of  the  Eskimo.  The  men  give  their  time  to 
hunting  and  fishing,  and  the  women  j^erform  all  the  hard  labor. 
Though  they  are  without  anything  like  culture  or  education,  they 
are  said  to  be  good  draftsmen  and  carvers,  and  the  people  about 
Eehring  Strait  do  some  painting. 

The  Eskimo  have  a  strange  religion.  They  believe  that  spirits 
exist  in  animals  and  even  in  inanimate  objects.  Tlieir  chief  deity 
is  an  old  woman  who  lives  in  the  ocean  and  who  controls  storms 
and  causes  the  seals  to  visit  or  stay  away,  as  she  may  direct,  from 
the  shores  these  sea  animals  frequent.  Many  other  ridiculous 
beliefs  are  held  in  connection  with  this  old  woman  of  the  sea.  The 
larger  portion  of  the  Eskimo  of  Greenland  and  Labrador  have  been 
converted  to  Christianity  by  Moravian  and  Danish  missionaries; 
and  Russian  missionaries  for  over  a  century  have  been  working 
among  the  natives  of  Alaska.  The  Eskimo  have  been  of  great  ser- 
vice to  all  explorers  of  the  Artie  regions.  Recent  estimates  of  the 
number  of  Eskimo  living  in  North  America  place  them  at  nearly 
thirty  thousand. 

THE  ALGONQUIAN  FAMII.Y. 

When  the  Europeans  first  discovered  the  North  American  Con- 
tinent and  began  to  explore  and  make  settlements  on  its  coasts  the 
Algonquians  were  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  powerful  families 
of  the  red  men.  They  occupied  and  roamed  over  an  extensive  terri- 
tory south  of  that  inhabited  by  the  Eskimo,  including  the  greater 
part  of  Canada  and  nearly  all  that  portion  of  the  United  States 
which  lies  nortli  of  the  tliirty-seventh  parallel  of  latitude.  Tlieir 
territory  is  said  to  liave  reached  from  the  eastern  shore  of  New- 
foundland to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  from  Churchill  River,  in 
British  Nortli  America,  to  Pamlico  Sound.  The  population  of  the 
various  tribes  or  nations  of  this  family  of  the  aborigines  has  been 
estimated  in  the  aggregate  at  a  quarter  of  a  million  when  they  first 
became  known  to  men  of  the  white  race.     Among  the  tribes  of  the 


:iii(l  Southwest  Virginia  17 

Algonquiaiis  \v(  re  tli(;  Shawnees,  and  also  all  tlie  tribes  that  occupied 
Virginia  east  of  the  Bhie  Ridge  Mountains,  including  those  of  the 
Powhatan  Confederacy.  Most  of  the  Algonquian  tribes  were  of  an 
exceedingly  nomadic  disposition;  and  were  constantly  moving  from 
one  hunting  ground  anil  river  to  others  to  indulge  their  passionate 
fondness  for  hunting  and  fishing,  as  well  as  to  make  sure  of  their 
supplies  of  fooil.  The  Shawnees  were  the  most  ardent  rovers 
of  the  various  Algonquian  tribes;  and,  consequently,  gave  very 
little  attention  to  agriculture  or  home-building.  It  is  said  that 
when  the  French  and  other  Europeans  began  to  settle  in  and  about 
the  territory  of  the  Algonquians  that  this  large  family  of  the 
American  race  had  already  begun  to  decline  in  numbers;  and  was 
being  greatly  reduced  by  deadly  diseases  that  practically  wiped  out 
entire  subordinate  tribes.  This  family  of  the  aborigines  is  also 
reputed  to  have  suffered  more  than  any  of  their  kindred  nations 
from  contact  with  the  white  men.  They  were  easily  duped  and 
debauched  by  the  unscrupulous  white  traders  who  gave  them  "fire- 
water" in  exchange  for  their  furs  and  lands. 

THE    HUKON-IROQUOIS   NATION. 

A  great  nation  known  as  the  Huron-Iroquois  inhabited  territory 
within  the  bounds  of  that  occupied  by  the  Algonquian  tribes  when 
America  was  discovered  by  Columbus.  It  was  a  confederation  of 
tribes  of  Algonquian  origin.  In  the  zenith  of  their  power  the 
Hurons  exercised  dominion  over  territory  that  extended  from 
Georgian  Bay  and  Lake  Huron  to  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  and 
south  of  these  lakes  extended  on  down  to  the  Upper  Ohio  Valley, 
and  eastward  to  the  Sorell  River. 

The  Huron-Iroquois  Confederacy  originallj'  was  composed  of 
the  following  tribes,  the  Hurons  (afterwards  known  as  the  Wyan- 
dots)  who  lived  north  of  Lake  Erie;  the  Eries  and  Andestas,  who 
resided  south  of  that  lake;  the  Tuscaroras  who  went  from  North 
Carolina  and  rejoined  their  kindred  in  the  north;  the  Senecas, 
Cayugas.  Onondagas.  Oneidas  and  Mohawks.  The  last  mentioned 
five  tribes  constituted  what  was  known  as  the  Five  Nations  of  New 
York,  and  later  called  the  Six  Nations  after  the  Tuscaroras  joined 
them  in  1712. 

The  Six  Nations  occupied  the  central  and  western  sections  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  had  an  estimated  population  of  fifteen 
thousand.    They  were  pronounced  one  of  the  most  intelligent,  enter- 

TH.-2 


18  History  of  Tazewell  County 

prising  and  warlike  aboriginal  nations  that  occupied  the  north- 
eastern portion  of  the  continent.  Their  villages  were  of  respectable 
size  and  character,  and  each  tribe  was  divided  into  families,  and 
governed  by  saclieras  or  chiefs.  All  matters  that  affected  the  general 
interests  of  the  confederated  tribes  were  considered  and  settled  by 
a  conference  of  all  the  chiefs  of  the  confederacy.  When  the  English 
colonists  in  1776  revolted  against  the  British  Government,  and  while 
the  war  of  the  Revolution  was  in  progress,  the  Iroquois  became  the 
allies  of  the  British.  They  were  influenced  to  pursue  this  course  by 
the  very  unjust  and  cruel  treatment  they  had  received  from  the 
colonists.  Led  by  Joseph  Brant,  the  Mohawk  chief,  and  Red 
Jacket,  chief  of  the  Senecas,  the  Iroquois  inflicted  some  terrible 
blows  upon  the  white  settlements  and  gave  much  valuable  assistance 
to  the  British  armies  that  the  American  colonies  were  struggling 
against. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  most  of  the  Iroquois 
tribes  sold  their  lands  in  New  York  "and  gradually  moved  away. 
The  Mohawks  settled  in  Canada,  and  were  afterwards  joined  there 
by  a  part  of  the  Tuscaroras  and  pai'ts  of  other  tribes.  Other  por- 
tions of  the  several  tribes  eventually  moved  to  western  reservations 
or  to  Canada.  A  part  of  the  Senacas  went  to  the  Indian  Territory, 
now  the  State  of  Oklahoma.  In  1917  there  were  435  Senecas  in 
that  State  under  Federal  Supervision.  There  were  about  5,500 
Iroquois  living  as  an  independent  community  in  New  York  State  in 
the  year  1890.  The  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 
for  1916,  shows  that  the  number  of  Indians  then  living  in  New 
York  was  6,245,  of  whom  5,585  were  under  supervision  of  the 
New  York  Agency  of  the  Federal  Government, 

South  of  the  country  inhabited  by  the  Alogonquian  tribes  were 
the  Cherokees.  This  nation  and  that  of  the  Shawnees  had  so  much 
to  do  with  the  history  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Southwest  Virginia, 
and  of  Tazewell  County,  that  it  will  be  necessary  for  tlie  writer  to 
give  these  two  more  particular  attention  than  any  of  the  tribes 
mentioned.  For  this  reason,  that  wliich  shall  be  written  about  the 
Cherokees  and  Sliawnees  will  be  put  in  the  closing  chapters  of  the 
Aboriginal  Period. 

THE  MUSKHOGEAN   FAMILY. 

In  the  countr}'^  which  now  constitutes  the  extreme  Southern 
States  of  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  dwelt  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  19 

Muskhogean  family  of  the  North  Amcritaii  Indians.  The  principal 
tribes  of  this  family  were:  the  Creeks,  the  Choctaws,  the  Chickasaws 
and  the  Seminoles.  Although  members  of  the  same  family,  there 
were  many  distinct  dissimilarities  in  both  their  physical  and  mental 
characteristics.  All  of  the  tribes  were  fond  of  agriculture,  and  they 
all  lived  in  villages  of  comfortable  log  houses.  Their  villages  that 
were  exposed  to  attack  from  an  enemy  were  j^rotected  by  pali- 
sades. They  were  all  brave  warriors,  but  the  Choctaws  were  dis- 
posed to  fight  entirely  in  self-defense,  while  the  Creeks  and  the 
Chickasaws  were  inclined  to  engage  in  offensive  wars.  The  Creeks 
and  the  Choctaws,  each,  had  a  confederacy,  with  smaller  tribes 
attached  thereto.  These  confederacies  were  political  organizations 
erected  on  kinship,  real  or  fictitious,  and  the  principal  object  of  the 
confederation  was  mutual  defense.  The  Muskhogean  people  num- 
bered 50.000  when  first  known  to  the  white  men. 

THE    CREEKS. 

Of  the  four  tribes  of  the  JNIiiskhogean  family,  the  Creeks  have 
been  regarded  as  the  leader.  Their  name  was  given  them  by  the 
English  on  account  of  the  numerous  small  streams  of  water  in  the 
country  they  occupied.  They  first  came  in  contact  with  the  white 
race  when  De  Soto  invaded  their  country  in  ISiO.  At  that  time 
they  held  the  greater  portion  of  Alabama  and  Georgia,  and  had 
their  chief  villages  on  the  Coosa,  Tallapoosa,  Flint  and  Chatta- 
hoocha  rivers.  The  Creeks  became  treaty  allies  of  the  English 
colonists  in  the  Apalachee  wars  of  1703-08.  and  from  that  time  were 
the  faithful  friends  of  the  colonists  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia, 
with  two  exceptions,  but  were  bitter  foes  of  the  Spaniards.  They 
were  allies  of  the  British  Government  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 
In  1790  they  made  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  United  States,  but  in 
1812  were  seduced  by  England's  emissaries,  broke  the  treaty  and 
committed  a  number  of  bloody  outrages  upon  the  white  inhabitants 
of  Georgia,  Alabama  and  Florida.  The  British  sent  Tecumseh,  the 
celebrated  Shawnee  chief,  in  the  spring  of  1812  from  Ohio  to  the 
Creeks  and  other  Indian  tribes  of  the  South  to  enlist  their  support 
in  the  war  against  the  United  States.  Tecumseh  used  his  savage 
eloquence  with  telling  effect,  reminding  his  kindred  of  the  South  of 
the  seizing  of  their  lands  by  the  whites,  called  attention  to  the  con- 
tinued encroachments  of  the  pale  faces  and  to  the  diminution  and 
probable  destruction  of  the  Indian  race.     The  Creeks  and  Seminoles 


20  History  of  Tazewell  County 

were  infuriated  by  Tecumseh's  appeals,  and  in  September,  1812. 
began  war  against  the  white  inhabitants  of  the  Soutli.  They  were 
soon  overawed  by  General  Andrew  Jackson,  who  marched  against 
theiil  with  twenty-five  hundred  Tennessee  volunteers.  Incited  by 
British  agents,  the  Indians  renewed  their  war  against  the  whites  in 
1813.  About  four  liundred  inhabitants  in  the  most  exposed  situa- 
tions on  the  Alabama  River  gathered  at  Fort  Mimms  for  jDrotection. 
The  Indians  made  a  surprise  attack  upon  the  fort  at  noon  on  the 
SOth  of  August,  1813.  There  were  about  six  hundred  warriors  who 
were  led  by  their  chief,  Weatherford.  The  whites  Mere  driven  into 
the  houses,  the  torcli  was  applied  to  the  buildings,  and  most  of 
those  who  escaped  the  fiamcs  became  vit-tims  of  the  tomahawk. 
Onlj'  seventeen  persons  escaped  to  carry  the  news  of  the  frightful 
disaster  to  other  stations. 

General  Jackson  and  other  military  leaders  began  ruthless  war 
against  the  Creeks,  desolated  their  country  and  killed  two  thousand 
of  their  warriors.  After  two  years  of  desultory  war  the  Indians 
were  brought  into  subjection,  but  continued  to  give  trouble  to  the 
white  people  of  the  surrounding  country  until  they  were  removed 
to  the  Indian  Territory  in  183(5.  At  the  lime  of  their  removal  they 
numbered  21..')9i.  The  Creek  Nation  is  now  a  part  of  the  Five 
Civilized  Tribes  in  Oklahoma;  and  in  191(5  the  naticm  numbered 
18,77k  Of  these  ll.n().j  arc  Creeks  by  blood,  while  6.809  are 
freedmen.  descendants  of  the  negro  slaves  the  Creeks  took  with 
them  when  they  were  sent  to  the  Indian  Territory. 

THK    CHOCTAWS. 

When  first  known  to  Europeans  the  Choctaws  were  occupying 
Middle  and  Southern  ^Mississippi,  and  their  territory  extended  at 
one  time  east  of  the  Tombigbee  River,  as  far  as  Dallas  County. 
Georgia.  The  meaning  of  the  name  Choctaw  is  unknown,  but  is 
believed  to  signify  a  separation,  that  is.  separation  from  the  Creeks 
and  Seminoles  who  were  once  united  with  the  Choctaws  as  one 
tribe.  As  before  stated,  they  were  a  branch  of  the  Muskhogean 
family,  and  were  the  leading  agriculturists  of  the  Southern  Indians. 
The  Choctaws  were  a  very  brave  people,  but  their  devotion  to  agri- 
culture seems  to  have  led  them  to  go  to  war  in  most  instances  on  the 
defensive.  From  the  narratives  of  De  Soto's  expendition.  it  is 
known  that  the  Spanish  explorer  came  in  contact  with  the  Choctaws 


and  Southwest  X'irginia  21 

in  1j51<0.     He  had  several  very  fierce  encounters  witli  these  Indians 
and  found  tlieni  splendid  fighters. 

About  the  year  1700  the  Choetaws  became  very  friendly  with 
the  Freneli,  who  were  then  settling  colonies  at  Mobile,  and  New 
Orleans.  Although  they  were  of  tlieir  own  kindred  the  Choetaws 
were  constantly  engaged  in  war  witli  the  Creeks  and  Chickasaws. 
In  1786  tliey  acknowledged  their  allegiance  to  the  United  States; 
and  rendered  the  Government  very  efficient  service  in  the  war  with 
England  in  1812,  and  also  in  the  Creek  war.  Although  they  were 
given  special  privileges  by  Georgia,  tliat  State  going  so  far  as  to 
invest  them  with  citizenship,  they  gradually  emigrated  beyond  the 
Mississippi  River  and  finally  settled  in  the  Indian  Territory.  In 
the  Civil  War  they  cast  their  fortune  with  the  Confederate  States, 
but  after  that  war  was  ended  renewed  their  allegiance  to  the  United 
States.  They  are  now  one  of  the  principal  nations  of  the  American 
natives  living  in  Oklahoma,  and  one  of  the  members  of  the  Five 
Civilized  Tribes  Confederation  of  that  State.  According  to  the 
1916  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  the  Choctaw 
Nation  numbers  2(5,828.  Tlicy  are  divided  as  follows:  By  blood 
17,488;  by  intermarriage  1,651;  Mississippi  Choctaw  1,660;  freed- 
men  6,029,  the  latter,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Creeks,  being  the  descend- 
ants of  slaves  owned  by  the  Choetaws  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War. 

THE    CHICKASAWS. 

From  their  traditions  we  learn  that  the  Chickasaws  were  closely 
related  to  the  Choetaws  both  by  blood  and  language.  Notwith- 
standing this  fact,  the  two  tribes  were  very  hostile  and  were  con- 
stantly engaged  in  armed  conflict.  According  to  their  traditions 
the  Chickasaws  and  Choetaws  came  originally  from  the  West,  and 
settled  east  of  the  Mississippi  River.  Fernando  De  Soto  and  his 
ill-fated  followers  found  them  there  in  loiO  and  passed  the  winter 
of  151-0-11  in  tlie  country  of  these  Indians.  The  Spaniards  had 
many  encounters  with  them  and  greatly  terrorized  the  poor  natives ; 
'but  in  the  spring  of  15il  the  Chickasaws  inflicted  a  very  heavy  blow 
to  De  Soto  and  his  followers.  The  Spaniards  undertook  to  force 
the  natives  to  accompany  their  expedition  as  guides  and  baggage- 
carriers.  They  refused  to  be  thus  enslaved,  burnt  De  Soto's  camp 
and  their  own  villages,  and  concealed  themselves  in  impenetrable 
swamps.  Forty  of  the  Spaniards  perished  in  the  conflagration 
and  a  large  part  of  their  baggage  was  destroyed. 


22  History  of  Tazewell  County 

The  Chickasaws  were  from  the  earliest  thnes  noted  for  tlieir 
courage  and  independent  spirit ;  and  were  ahnost  incessantly  fighting- 
some  of  the  neighboring  tribes.  They  had  wars  with  the  Choctaws, 
the  Creeks^  the  Cherokees^  the  Shawnees,  and  even  with  the  Iroquois. 
The  latter  once  invaded  their  territory  and  the  invading  band  was 
almost  destroyed.  The  Chickasaws  were  always  the  bitter  foe  of 
the  French,  this  feeling  of  enniil}'  being  encouraged  by  the  English 
traders  and  intensified  by  an  alliance  of  the  French  with  the  Choc- 
taws.  In  1786  they  defeated  the  French  in  several  battles^  and 
successfully  resisted  an  attempt  to  conquer  them  in  ITSO-^O. 

In  1786  the  United  States  established  friendly  relations  with 
the  Chickasaws  by  a  treaty,  which  is  known  as  the  treaty  of  Hope- 
well; and  they  gave  valuable  assistance  to  the  white  inhabitants  in 
the  Creek  War  of  1813-14.  Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  the 
Chickasaws  ceded  a  part  of  their  territory  in  consideration  of  certain 
annuities  provided  for  them  by  the  Federal  Government,  and  a  por- 
tion of  the  tribe  moved  to  Arkansas.  In  1832-34  the  remainder, 
numbering  about  3,600  ceded  the  6,642,000  acres  which  they  still 
claimed  east  of  the  Mississippi,  removed  to  the  Indian  Teri'itory, 
and  became  incorporated  with  the  Choctaw  Nation.  By  a  treaty 
made  in  1855  their  lands  were  separated  from  those  of  the  Choc^ 
taws,  and  they  acquired  thereby  their  present  very  valuable  holdings 
in  Oklahoma.  In  the  war  between  the  States,  1861-65,  the  Chicka- 
saw Nation  gave  its  support  to  the  Confederate  Government,  as  they 
owned  a  number  of  negro  slaves  and  were  in  entire  sympathy  with 
the  Southern  people.  The  tribe  is  now  one  of  the  Five  Civilized 
Tribes  Confederation  in  Oklahoma.  They  numbered  10,966  in  1916, 
divided  as  follows:  By  blood  5,659;  by  intermarriage  645;  f reed- 
men,  4,662.  The  freedmen  are  the  descendants  of  the  slaves  held 
by  the  Chickasaws  when  slavery  was  abolished  by  President  Lin- 
coln. 

THE   SEMINOLES. 

There  were  several  small  tribes  that  were  offshoots  of  the  larger 
tribes  of  the  Muskhogean  family;  but  the  Seminole  is  the  only  tribe, 
in  addition  to  tlie  three  already  mentioned,  that  is  of  sufficient  his- 
toric importance  to  be  considered  by  the  writer.  The  Seminoles 
were  originally  a  vagrant  branch  of  the  Creeks,  and  the  name, 
Seminole,  signifies  wiid  or  reckless.  They  moved  from  the  Lower 
Creek  towns  on  the  Chattahoochee  River  to  Florida  after  the  A])a]a- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  2'A 

chee  tribe,  also  a  branch  of  tlie  Muskhogean  family,  was  driven 
from  that  country.  The  Apalacliees  were  friendly  to  tlie  Spaniards ; 
and  the  English  Government  of  Carolina  sent  an  expedition  against 
the  Spaniards  and  Appalachees  in  1703.  The  array  of  Governor 
Moore  was  composed  of  one  company  of  white  soldiers  and  one 
thousand  Indian  allies,  mostly  Creeks.  They  invaded  the  Apala- 
chee's  country  and  destroyed  their  towns,  fields  and  orange  groves, 
killed  200  of  the  Apalachee  warriors  and  made  captives  of  1,400 
of  the  tribe,  who  were  made  slaves.  The  following  year  the  English 
and  Indians  made  a  second  invasion  and  totally  destroyed  the  Apala- 
chee tribe  in  Florida.  The  Seminole  branch  of  the  Creeks  took 
possession  of  the  territory'  formerly  occupied  by  the  Apalachee 
tribe.  While  Florida  remained  under  Spanish  rule,  the  Seminoles 
were  very  hostile  to  the  United  States.  They  were  identified  with 
the  Creeks  in  support  of  the  British  in  the  Revolutionary  War  and 
the  war  with  England  in  1812.  Still  later,  through  British  influence, 
they  gave  the  Federal  Government  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  This 
was  during  the  first  administration  of  President  Monroe.  The 
Seminoles  began  to  make  violent  attacks  upon  the  white  settlers  in 
Florida ;  and  General  Andrew  Jackson,  who  had  already  become 
famous  as  an  Indian  fighter,  was  sent  there  with  general  and  ample 
powers  to  suppress  the  hostiles.  British  emissaries  were  going 
among  the  Indians,  and  were  inciting  them  to  the  commission  of 
frightful  outrages  upon  the  whites.  With  an  army  composed  of 
eight  hundred  regulars,  one  thousand  Georgia  militia,  the  same 
number  of  Tennessee  volunteers,  and  fifteen  hundred  fx'iendly  Crepk 
Indians,  General  Jackson  entered  upon  his  task  of  crushing  the 
Seminole  uprising.  He  accomplished  his  purpose  so  effectually  that 
Spain  abandoned  its  claim  to  the  territory,  and  in  1823  ceded 
Florida  to  the  United  States. 

In  1832  the  United  States  made  a  treaty  with  a  part  of  the 
Seminole  chiefs,  which  provided  for  the  removal  of  the  whole  tribe 
to  a  section  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Osceola,  one  of  the  chiefs  of 
the  tribe,  and  who  aftervvards  became  famous,  persuaded  his  people 
to  repudiate  the  treaty  and  refuse  to  vacate  their  homes  in  Florida. 
This  provoked  a  war  with  the  United  States  which  lasted  for  eigh- 
teen years.  Though  but  a  very  small  band  of  the  Seminoles,  lead 
by  the  fearless  Osceola,  were  engaged  in  it.  the  war  cost  the  United 
States  thousands  of  lives  and  twenty  millions  of  dollars.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  war,  Osceola  having  finally  been  made  a  captive. 


24 


Historj^  of  Tazewell  County 


the  greater  part  of  tlie  tribe  was  located  on  a  reservation  on  the 
borders  of  Arkansas.  The  storj-  of  the  long  confinement  of  Osceola 
in  the  old  fort  at  St.  Augustine^  and  his  refusal  to  go  out  with  the 
other  Indians  who  made  their  escape,  is  full  of  pathos  and  romance. 
In  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  for  the 
year  1916,  it  is  stated  that  574  Seminoles  still  live  in  Florida.  The 
men  are  reported  to  be  splendid  specimens  of  phj'sical  manhood  by 
persons  from  this  section  of  Virginia  who  make  visits  in  the  winter 


The  Jibove  is  a  i)ortrnir  of  Osceola,  and  is  made  fmin  a  print  fuf- 
iiislied  the  author  by  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  Smithsonian 
Institution.  In  lS3.~i  he  was  treacherously  seir-ed  by  General  Jesup,  and 
made  a  prisoner,  while  holding  a  conference  under  a  tlag  of  truce. 
Broken  in  spirit  from  brooding  over  the  mann«^r  in  which  he  had  been 
betrayed,  be  died  a  prisoner  in  Fort  ^Moultrie.  Floi'ida,  in  .January.  1S8.S. 

to  the  Land  of  Flowers.  From  the  same  report  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Indian  Atiairs  it  is  learned  tliat  the  Seminoles  exist  as  a  separate 
nation  in  Oklahoma,  and  is  a  member  of  the  confederacy  of  the 
P'ive  Civilized  Tribes.  They  number.  3,127  souls,  of  whom  986  are 
called  freedmen.  beina;  the  descendants  of  former  negro  slaves. 


THE  siorx  on  sioux  family. 


\\'lien  the  Europeans  began  to  plant  colonies  on  the  eastern 
coasts  of  the  North  American  Continent  there  were  several  large 
and  powerful  nations  of  tlie  American  aborigines  then  occupying 
that   jiortion  of  tlie  I'nited  vStates  which  lies  west  of  the  Mississip|)i 


and  Southwest  Virginia  25 

River.  Tlu'  largest  and  liest  known  tril)f  of  the  Sionan  family  is 
the  Dakotas.  now  commonly  called  the  Sioux.  They  exercised 
dominion  over  a  vast  territory  that  extended  from  the  Arkansas 
River  at  the  South  to  the  country  of  the  Eskimo  in  the  North;  and 
rea.hed  westward  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. There  were  several  principal  and  a  number  of  subordinate 
tribes  of  the  Dakotas,  with  different  languages,  customs,  and  social 
organizations.  The  first  time  the  Sioux  ever  came  in  contact  with 
the  white  man  was  when  De  Soto  reached  the  Quapaw  villages  in 
Eastern  Arkansas.  The  Quapaw  were  a  subordinate  tribe  of  the 
Dakotas.  One  of  the  chroniclers  of  the  De  Soto  expedition  relates 
that  one  portion  of  the  Qua])aw  tribe  was  found  living  in  a  strongly 
fortified  village,  which  he  said  was,  "very  great,  walled  and  beset 
with  towers."  He  also  says:  "Many  loopholes  were  in  the  towers 
and  walls,  a  great  lake  came  near  into  the  wall,  and  ii  entered  tlic, 
ditch  that  went  around  about  the  town,  wanting  but  little  to  environ 
it.  From  the  lake  to  the  great  river  (Mississippi)  was  made  a 
weir  by  which  the  fish  came  into  it."  This  report  is  pronounced  by 
American  investigators  a  very  great  exaggeration,  as  is  also  tlie 
statement :  "And  in  the  town  was  a  great  store  of  maiz  and  great 
quantity  of  new  in  tlie  fields.  Within  a  league  were  great  towns, 
all  walled." 

The  Dakotas  were  first  met  by  the  French  explorers  in  1640. 
near  the  headwaters  of  the  Mississippi  River;  and  in  16S9  Nicholas 
Perrot  took  possession  of  their  country  for  France.  In  subsequent 
wars  the  French  drove  tliem  down  the  Mississippi  and  they  located 
on  the  plains  of  the  ]Missouri.  During  the  Revolution  and  the  War 
of  1812.  the  Dakotas  were  the  allies  of  the  Eritisli. 

The  social  organization  of  tliis  nation  was  originally  based  upon 
the  plan  of  groujjs  or  bands,  of  which  there  was  a  large  number. 
Each  group  liad  a  chief  who  was  selected  by  the  members  thereof 
and  was  chosen  for  the  position  because  of  his  personal  fitness.  His 
authority  was  controlled  and  limited  by  the  band,  and  he  could  do 
but  little  in  matters  that  affected  its  interests,  without  the  consent 
or  approval  of  the  members.  Marriage  outside  the  group  was 
encouraged,  for  tlie  pur]3ose  of  introducing  new  blood,  and  ]>olygamy 
was  commonly  practiced. 

After  the  United  States  acquired  the  territory  occupied  by  the 
Dakotas.  or  Sioux,  frequent  treaties  were  made  with  these  Indians; 
bv  which  extcnsi\c  and   valuable  boundaries  of  land   were  ceded   to 


26  History  of  Tazewell  County 

the  United  States.  Nearly  all  of  these  treaties  were  indifferently 
observed  by  the  Federal  Government,  and  several  wars  with  the 
Sioux  resulted.  The  last  war  with  these  Indians  was  fought  in 
1876.  Rich  discoveries  of  gold  were  made  in  the  Black  Hills,  the 
greater  part  of  which  region  belonged  by  treaty  to  the  Sioux.  A 
desperate  and  greedy  horde  of  white  gold-hunters  and  adventurers 
rushed  into  the  Black  Hills,  regardless  of  the  wishes  and  rights  of 
the  Sioux.  This  so  enraged  the  Indians  that,  under  the  leadership 
of  Sitting  Bull,  they  broke  away  from  their  reservations,  roamed 
through  Wyoming  and  Montana,  burned  houses,  stole  horses,  and 
killed  all  persons  who  offered  resistance.  The  National  Government 
took  immediate  steps  to  force  the  Indians  back  to  their  reservations, 
sending  out  for  that  purpose  a  large  force  of  regulars  under  Gen- 
erals Terry,  Crook,  Custer,  and  Reno.  Sitting  Bull  and  his  three 
thousand  warriors  had  been  driven  back  against  Bighorn  Mountain 
and  River,  and  Generals  Custer  and  Reno  were  sent  forward  with  the 
Seventh  Cavalry  to  locate  the  enemy.  Tliese  generals  divided  their 
forces  into  two  columns  and  separated.  Sitting  Bull  liad  prepared 
an  ambusli  and  led  Custer  and  his  small  body  of  cavalry  into  a 
position  where  they  were  forced  to  charge  the  large  force  of  Indians. 
This  was  on  the  25th  of  June.  187(5.  In  the  blood}^  battle  General 
Custer  and  every  man  in  his  command  was  killed. 

After  the  battle,  the  Indians  separated  into  two  parties.  Sitting 
Bull  was  in  command  of  the  western  party,  and  was  overtaken  and 
attacked  and  routed  by  General  Miles.  A  large  number  of  the 
Indians  surrendered,  but  the  remainder  of  the  band,  with  their 
chief,  escaped  to  Canada.  They  remained  there  until  1881,  when 
Sitting  Bull  returned  witli  his  band  to  the  United  States,  and  under 
promise  of  amnesty  surrendered  at  Fort  Buford.  He  was  confined 
at  Fort  Randall  until  1883.  In  1888  the  Government  tried  to  buy 
the  lands  of  the  Sioux,  but  under  the  influence  of  Sitting  Bull  they 
refused  to  sell.  He  organized  a  Ghost  dance  on  the  reservation, 
which  meant  another  revolt.  A  demand  was  made  for  his  arrest, 
and  when  an  attempt"  was  made  by  some  of  his  people  to  rescue  him 
he  was  shot  and  killed  by  Sergeants  Red  Tomahawk  and  Bullhead 
of  the  Indian  police,  on  December  15th.  1890. 

The  great  body  of  the  Sioux  had  been  persuaded  to  return  to 
their  reservation  in  1880.  They  ceded  a  part  of  their  lands  to  the 
United  States  in    1889.     About    17,000  of  this  formerly  fierce  and 


and  Southwest  Virginia  27 

unruly  nation  are  now  living  quietly,  under  Government  supervision, 
on  their  reservation  in  South  Dakota. 

THE    COMANfllKS. 

South  oi"  tlic  Dakotas  lived  and  ro\  cd  the  wild  and  fierce 
C'omanches.  They  were  one  of  the  Southern  tribes  of  the  Shoshone 
family  and  the  only  one  of  tliat  group  that  lived  exclusively  on  the 
j)lains.  Phih)logists  affirm  that  from  their  language  and  traditions 
it  is  evident  they  are  an  offshoot  from  the  Shoshones  of  Wyoming. 
Both  of  these  tribes  have  practically  the  same  dialect,  and  have 
always  maintained  the  friendliest  relations  toward  each  other.  They 
originally  occupied^  or  rather  roamed  over,  the  territory  now 
embraced  in  the  States  of  Texas,  New  Mexico,  Oklahoma,  Kansas, 
Colorado,  and  possibly  parts  of  other  adjacent  States.  When  they 
first  became  known  to  Europeans  they  lived  in  the  regions  between 
the  upper  Brazos  and  Colorado,  on  one  side,  and  the  Arkansas  and 
Missouri  on  the  other.  The  Comanches  were  great  nomads,  were 
constantly  moving  about,  and  lived  in  tents  that  were  covered  with 
buffalo  skins  and  that  Avere  jjortable.  Their  great  delight  was  hunt- 
ing the  buffalo,  and  they  were  acknowledged  the  best  horsemen  of 
the  plains.  Originally  they  were  divided  into  twelve  distinct 
divisions  or  bands.   Only  five  of  these  are  now  said  to  be  in  existence. 

The  Comanches  disliked  the  Spaniards  very  much  and  were 
constantly  at  war  with  them  when  the  Spanish  Government  con- 
trolled Mexico.  They  were  very  friendly  with  Americans  until  they 
were  driven  from  their  hunting  grounds  in  Texas  by  the  settlers  in 
that  State.  In  1835  they  made  their  first  treaty  with  the  United 
States,  and  by  a  treaty,  known  as  the  treaty  of  Medicine  Lodge, 
made  in  1867,  they  agreed  to  settle  on  a  reservation  between  the 
Washita  and  Red  Rivers  in  Southwestern  Oklahoma.  But  the 
Indians  failed  to  comply  with  this  treaty  until  1875,  when  they 
consented  to  setttle  on  the  reservation.  Until  that  time  the 
Comanches  were  a  constant  menace  to  the  settlers  in  Western  and 
Northwestern  Texas.  The  1916  report  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs  shows  that  the  Comanche  tribe  in  Oklahoma  numbers 
1,568  persons,  who  are  leading  a  quiet  and  orderly  life. 

THE  PACIFIC  COAST  INDIANS. 

West  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  that  section  of  the  United 
States   called  the   Pacific  States,  lived  what  have   been  named  by 


28  History  of  Tazewell  County 

some  historians  the  Nations  of  the  Plains.  When  the  Spaniards 
extended  their  discoveries  up  the  Pacific  coast  and  made  settlements 
in  California  there  were  about  150,000  aboriginal  inhabitants  then 
living  in  that  State.  At  the  present  time  there  are  a  little  more 
than  15,000  located  in  California.  The  majority  of  them  are  living 
as  squatters  on  the  land  of  white  citizens  or  of  the  Government, 
while  others  are  on  land  allotted  tlitin  by  the  (Jovernment.  and  sonit- 
own  the  land  they  occupy. 

The  Indians  the  white  men  found  on  the  Pacific  coast  were 
divided  into  a  large  number  of  groups,  with  at  least  twenty-one 
linguistic  families,  or  about  one-fourth  of  the  entire  number  found 
in  North  America.  Of  these  the  Shoshonean  and  Yuman  at  the 
South,  and  the  Athajiascan  and  Klamath  at  the  North,  were  the 
principal  families.  These  families  were,  each,  divided  into  a  number 
of  subordinate  tribes  or  units;  and  thej'^  occupied  all  the  Pacific 
Slope  from  Lower  California  up  to  and  into  British  Columbia. 

The  California  aborigines  are  among  the  least  known  of  the 
groujis  or  tribes  of  the  race  that  inhabited  the  North  American  Con- 
tinent. They  were  a  timid  and  indolent  peo2:>Ie,  and  the  white  men 
experienced  very  little  trouble  in  depriving  them  of  their  lands.  The 
various  tribes  had  no  social  organizations,  and  culturally  were,  per- 
haps, the  rudest  and  simplest  of  the  several  nations  of  the  American 
race  that  lived  on  the  continent.  They  gave  no  attention  whatever 
to  agriculture,  but  subsisted  entirely  on  fish  and  game  and  a  wild 
vegetable  diet.  Their  main  vegetable  food  consisted  of  different 
varieties  of  acorns,  and  seeds  which  they  gathered  from  grasses 
and  herbs. 

The  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  states  in  his  1917  report 
that  there  are  15.362  Indians  living  in  California,  6,612  in  Oregon, 
and  11,181  in  Washington,  or  a  total  of  33,155  in  the  three  Pacific 
Coast  States.  Historians  and  investigators  have  not  suggested  any 
specific  cause  for  the  singularly  large  reduction  of  the  Indian  popu- 
lation of  California.  It  may  be  that  two  reasons  can  be  reasonably 
assigned  for  this  peculiar  condition,  migration  and  depletion  from 
contact  with  the  evil  habits  of  white  men. 

THE  CHEROKEES. 

When  the  first  white  settlers  came  and  built  their  cabins  in  Taze- 
well the  Cherokees  and  Shawnees  were  rival  claimants  of  the  terri- 
torv  now  embraced  in  tlie  bounds  of  the  comity;  and  of  the  entire 


and  Southwest  \irg;inia  29 

Cliiu'h  Valley.  In  fact,  both  tribes  asserted  title  to  all  the  territory 
that  lies  between  the  Clineh  Valley  and  the  Ohio  River.  Therefore 
the  writer  deemed  it  appropriate  to  say  very  little  about  the  Chero- 
kees  and  Shawnees,  until  after  all  other  tribes  to  be  chronieled  were 
disposed  of.  I  have  made  diligent  effort  to  procure  all  information 
obtainable  about  the  Cherokees  and  the  Shawnees,  so  as  to  be  pre- 
pared to  write  a  complete  but  condensed  narrative  of  these  two 
tribes  whose  history  is  so  interwoven  with  that  of  the  pioneer  set- 
tlers. A  number  of  histories  have  been  carefully  studied,  the  Bureau 
of  American  Ethnology  has  been  consulted,  and  correspondence 
conducted  with  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs.  From  these 
best  known  sources  the  most  reliable  information  has  been  procured 
and  is  now  used. 

The  philologists  and  archeologists  who  have  made  the  most 
recent  investigations  of  the  traditions  and  life  of  the  aboriginal 
inhabitants  of  America  designate  the  Cherokees  as  a  powerful 
detached  tribe  of  the  Iroquoian  family  who  came  originally  from 
the  North  and  settled  in  the  Alleghany  region.  They  first  became 
known  to  men  of  the  white  race  when  De  Soto  came  in  contact  with 
them  in  1540.  At  that  time  they  were  occupying  the  entire  moun- 
tain region  of  the  Southern  Allcghanies,  in  Southwest  Virginia, 
Western  North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina,  Northern  Georgia, 
Eastern  Tennessee,  and  Northeastern  Alabama,  and  made  claim  to 
territory  in  Virginia  and  Kentucky  that  reached  as  far  as  the  Ohio 
River  and  as  far  east  as  the  Peaks  of  Otter.  George  Bancroft,  the 
eminent  American  historian  and  statesman,  in  his  splendid  history 
of  the  United  States,  thus  speaks  of  the  Cherokees  and  the  beautiful 
country  they  inhabited: 

"The  mountaineers  of  aboriginal  America  were  the  Cherokees, 
who  occujiied  the  upper  valley  of  the  Tennesee  River  as  far  west 
as  Muscle  Shoals,  and  .the  highlands  of  Carolina,  Georgia,  and 
Alabama,  the  most  picturesque  and  salubrious  region  east  of  the 
Mississippi.  Their  homes  were  encircled  by  blue  hills  rising  beyond 
hills,  of  which  the  lofty  peaks  would  kindle  with  the  early  light, 
and  the  overshadowing  ridges  envelop  the  valleys  like  a  mass  of 
clouds.  There  the  rocky  cliffs,  rising  in  naked  grandeur,  defy  the 
lightning,  and  mock  the  loudest  peals  of  the  thunder  storm;  thei-e 
the  gentler  slopes  are  co\ered  with  magnolias  and  flowering  forest 
trees,  decorated  with  roving  climbers,  and  ring  with  the  perpetual 
note  of  the  whip-poor-will ;  there  the  wholesome  water  gushes  pro- 


30  History  of  Tazewell  County 

fnsejy  from  the  earth  in  transparent  springs;  snow-white  cascades 
Cflitter  on  the  hillsides ;  and  the  riverS;,  shallow  but  pleasant  to  the 
eye^  rush  through  the  narrow  vales,  which  the  abundant  strawberry 
crimsons,  and  copices  of  rhododendron  and  flaming  azelea  adorn. 
At  the  fall  of  the  leaf,  the  fruit  of  the  hickory  and  chestnut  is  thickly 
thrown  on  the  ground.  The  fertile  soil  teems  with  luxuriant  herb- 
age, on  which  the  roebuck  fattens;  the  vivifying  breeze  is  laden 
with  fragrance;  and  daybreak  is  ever  welcomed  by  the  shrill  cries 
of  the  night-hawk  and  the  liquid  carols  of  the  mocking-bird. 
Through  this  lovely  region  were  scattered  the  villages  of  the  Chero- 
kees,  nearly  iifty  in  number,  each  consisting  of  but  a  few  cabins, 
erected  where  the  bend  in  the  moimtain  stream  offered  at  once  a 
defence  and  a  strip  of  aluvial  soil  for  culture." 

What  a  wonderfully  beautiful  pen-picture  is  this  of  the  home- 
land of  the  Cherokees.  so  exquisitely  drawn  by  America's  word 
artist  historian.  But  the  gifted  writer  might  have  added  much 
lustrous  beauty  to  his  painting,  if  he  had,  with  corresponding  skill. 
portrayed  the  primitive  hunting  grounds  of  these  Indians,  located 
in  our  own  delightful  valleys  of  the  Clinch  and  the  Holston.  What 
a  field  for  brilliant  imagery  the  word-})ainter  could  have  found  here. 
The  wondrous  scenic  beauty  of  Southwest  Virginia,  generally,  and 
of  Tazewell  County  in  particular,  has  spread  their  fame  both  far 
and  wide.  Here  in  primitive  days  the  lofty  mountains  and  towering- 
peaks,  clothed  with  living  green  in  summer  time,  and  clad  with 
fleecy  snow  and  ic-y  pendants  in  winter  season,  stood  as  silent  sen- 
tinels above  and  around  the  magnificent  forests  of  oak,  poplar,  wal- 
nut and  sugar  maple,  that  transformed  each  mountain  hollow  and 
valley  into  a  sylvan  palace.  In  these  sylvan  homes  the  nightingale, 
thrilled  b}'  the  soft  moonbeams,  warbled  its  liquid  melodies ;  and 
the  mocking-bird,  thrush  and  oriole,  screened  from  the  scorching 
rays  of  the  noonday  sun  by  the  refreshing  shade  of  the  sugar  tree, 
carolled  their  richest  and  sweetest  songs.  And  here  Diana  and  her 
companion  nymphs  might  have  discovered  thousands  of  crystal 
springs,  in  whose  pellucid  depths  they  could  have  seen  their  ravish- 
ingly  beautiful  forms  reflected  as  no  highly  polished  hand-made  mir- 
ror could  present  them.  If  the  fabled  gods  had  once  drunk  of  these 
sweet,  sparkling  waters,  they  would  have  thrown  aside  their  cups 
of  nectar  and  declined  to  quaff  again  their  beverage  of  distilled 
honej'.  Here,  too.  as  natives  to  the  soil,  luxuriantly  grew  the 
sweetest  and  most  nutritious  herbage  for  animals  the  wide-world 


and  Southwest  Virginia  31 

has  ever  known,  tlie  wild  pea  vine  and  nature's  richest  pasturage, 
the  bluegrass.  Instinctively,  from  all  regions,  east,  west,  nortli. 
and  south,  came  the  ponderous  buffalo,  the  heavy  antlered  elk,  and 
the  fleet-footed  deer  to  feed  and  fatten  upon  the  succulent  herbage 
that  was  of  spontaneous  growth  in  this  wonderful  country. 

Is  it  strange  that  every  tribe  of  Indians  that  ever  visited  the 
valleys  of  the  Holston  and  Clinch  on  hunting  expeditions,  or  had 
ever  heard  of  the  abundance  of  game  that  gathered  here,  made  claim 
of  ownership  to  this  great  natural  game  park?  When  the  white  men 
first  came  to  this  section  they  found  not  only  the  Cherokees  and 
Shawnees,  but  even  the  Iroquois  tribes  of  New  York,  asserting 
ownership  of  the  territory.  It  was  truly  a  debatable  land,  to  which 
no  one  tribe  had  other  than  an  assumed  or  fictitious  title.  This 
gave  to  that  class  of  white  men  known  as  "Long  Hunters  "  equal 
right  with  the  nomads  to  enter  and  enjoy  this  Hunter's  Paradise. 
And  surely  it  gave  to  the  pioneer  settlers,  who  were  eager  to  make 
homes  for  their  families  upon  its  fruitful  soil,  an  undisputed  natural 
right  to  enter  and  make  proper  use  of  "God's  Country,"  which  the 
aborigines  had  for  so  many  centuries  left  a  wilderness  waste. 


Philologists  have  decided  that  the  tribal  name,  Cherokee,  is  a 
corruption  of  Tslagi  or  Tsaragi,  and  is  said  to  be  derived  from  the 
Choctaw,  cli'iluk-ki,  "cave-people."  This  name  alludes  to  the  many 
caves  that  are  found  in  the  mountain  country  where  the  Cherokees 
then  lived.  The  Iroquois,  their  Northern  kindred,  called  them 
Oyatage  ronon,  which  means  inhabitants  of  the  cave  country.  From 
traditions  of  the  tribe  and  the  character  of  their  language,  and  from 
the  findings  of  archaelogists,  it  has  been  decided  that  the  Cherokees 
were  originally  from  the  North;  but  it  has  been  impossible  to  fix 
definitely  the  locality  from  which  they  migrated  or  to  determine 
why  they  moved  to  the  South. 

From  investigations  made  by  students  of  the  Indian  race,  it 
has  been  ascertained  that  tiie  Cherokees  were  anciently  divided  into 
fourteen  clans,  and  that  eight  of  these  have  become  extinct  by 
absorption  or  from  other  causes.  The  names  of  the  seven  existing 
clans  are  as  follows:  Ani-waya  (Wolf),  Ani-Kawi  (Deer),  Ani- 
Tsiskwa  (Bird),  Ani-Wadi  (Paint),  Ani-Sahani,  Ani-Ga'tagewi, 
Ani-Gilahi.  Philologists  have  not  been  able  to  find  with  certainty 
translations  for  the  names  of  the  last  three  clans.  The  Wolf  clan 
is  first  in  importance  and  the  number  of  its  joeople;  and  all  the  clans 
are  recognized  in  the  printed  laws  and  ritual  prayers  of  the  nation. 


32  History  of  Tazewell  County 

About  one  hundred  and  Mty  years  after  De  Soto's  disastrous 
expedition  relations  between  the  Cherokees  and  the  English  colon- 
ists of  the  Carolinas  began;  and  for  a  period  of  nearly  fifty  years 
thereafter  these  red  men  adhered  faithfully  to  their  white  friends. 
In  1729  the  two  Carolina  provinces  were  separated  and  named, 
respectively.  North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina.  The  proprietary 
government,  that  had  been  conducting  the  aliairs  of  both  since  the 
colony  was  founded,  was  superseded  by  the  appointment  of  a  royal 
governor  for  each  of  the  provinces. 

As  soon  as  the  royal  government  was  established  in  the  Carolina 
provinces.  Sir  Alexander  Cumming  was  sent  as  a  special  envoy  to 
the  Cherokee  Nation  for  the  purpose  of  negotiating  a  treaty  which 
would  make  them  allies,  or  ratlier  subjects  of  Great  Britain.  The 
chiefs  of  the  tribe  were  summoned,  and  assembled  at  Nequassee,  in 
the  Tennessee  Valley,  where  they  were  met  by  the  English  envoy 
in  April,  1730.  They  formally  acknowledged  the  King  of  England 
as  their  sovereign,  and  in  token  thereof  presented  the  English 
envoy  a  chaplet  made  with  four  scalps  of  their  enemies  and  five 
eagle  tails.  The  Cherokees  were  then  induced  to  send  seven  of 
their  chiefs  as  deputies  to  England,  where  they  were  persuaded  to 
sign  a  treaty  adroitly  drawn,  which  the  Indians  thought  was  merely 
a  treaty  of  alliance — offensive  and  defensive.  One  of  the  provisions 
of  the  treaty  was  that  no  white  men,  except  the  English,  should  be 
permitted  to  build  cabins  or  cultivate  the  soil  in  the  territory  of 
the  Cherokees.  The  seven  chiefs  were  then  presented  to  King 
George  and  his  court;  and  were  coolly  informed  that,  by  the  treaty, 
their  nation  had  become  subjects  of  England;  and  that  their  lands 
were  the  property  of  the  British  Crown.  This  was  the  beginning 
of  a  series  of  deceptions  practiced  by  the  white  men  upon  the  Chero- 
kees that  ultimately  deprived  them  of  their  cherished  homes  in  the 
Southern  Alleghanies.  The  Indians,  however,  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century  stood  faithfully  to  their  treaty  pledges. 

In  1755  the  Cherokees  ceded  territory  to  the  British  Government 
and  permitted  the  erection  of  English  forts  thereon.  About  this 
time  the  whites  began  to  make  serious  encroachments  upon  the  tribe; 
and  the  wrongs  inflicted  became  so  galling  to  the  natives  that  in 
1769,  under  the  leadership  of  Chief  Oconostota,  they  started  a  war 
against  the  Carolinians.  In  1760,  Governor  Lyttleton  of  South 
Carolina  sent  an  invitation  to  some  of  the  chiefs  to  meet  him  in  con- 


and  Southwest  Virgiuiaj  33 

ference  for  the  purpose,  if  possible,  of  so  adj  usting  their  difi'erences 
as  to  prevent  a  continuanee  of  liostilities  between  the  colonies  and 
the  Indians.  During  the  conference  misunderstandings  arose  among 
the  conferees  over  some  matters  in  dispute;  and  Governor  Lyttleton, 
unwisely  and  treacherously,  seized  the  chiefs  and  put  them  in  prison. 
This  conduct  of  the  governor  of  South  Carolina  was  very  justly 
resented  bj'  the  Indians  as  an  act  of  bad  faith.  Upon  their  release 
the  chiefs  returned  to  their  country,  and  their  jjcople  were  so  pro- 
voked by  the  indignity  that  war  against  the  whites  was  urged  and 
was  begun.  The  South  Carolinians  were  so  hard  pressed  by  the 
Indians  that  they  had  to  call  for  assistance  from  other  colonies. 
Colonel  Thomas  Montgomerj-  was  sent  from  New  York  with  two 
thousand  men  to  aid  the  Carolinians.  In  a  short  Lime  after  his 
arrival  in  Carolina,  the  militia  of  the  colony,  under  tlie  command  of 
Moultrie  and  Marion,  joined  his  army,  and  he  began  immediate 
operations  against  the  Cherokees.  He  invaded  their  country,  burned 
a  number  of  their  towns  and  villages,  destroyed  their  growing  crops, 
and  had  a  number  of  small  engagements  with  the  hostiles.  In  the 
last  battle  twenty  of  the  whites  were  killed  and  seventy  were 
wounded.  The  condition  and  sfze  of  Montgomery's  army  were  of 
such  a  character  as  to  render  it  hazardous  to  advance  further  into 
the  Indian  country,  and  orders  were  sent  him  to  retreat.  This  was 
done,  and  Colonel  Montgomery  returned  to  New  York  with  his 
forces,  except  four  companies  that  were  left  as  part  of  a  guard  on 
the  frontier  to  prevent  an  invasion  of  the  colonies  by  the  Indians. 
In  1756  Governor  Dinwiddie,  of  \  irginia,  made  a  treaty  with 
the  Cherokees  in  which  it  was  agreed  to  buiid  them  a  fort  and  place 
a  garrison  there  to  protect  them  against  their  aboriginal  enemies, 
witii  the  understanding  that  the  Indians  would  send  a  number  of 
their  warriors  to  assist  the  English  in  their  war  against  the  French 
and  the  Northern  Indians.  Governor  Dinwiddie  gave  orders  to 
Major  Andrew  Lewis,  of  Augusta  County,  to  raise  a  company  of 
sixty  men  and  go  with  them  to  the  Cherokee  country  and  build  a 
fort.  Major  Lewis  promptly  executed  the  orders  of  the  governor, 
by  building  a  fort  on  the  Tennessee  River  at  a  point  about  thirty 
miles  from  where  the  splendid  city  of  Knoxville  is  now  located,  and 
it  was  named  Fort  Loudon.  During  the  progress  of  the  war  between 
the  Indians  and  the  Carolina  colonics,  m  1700,  the  Cherokees 
invested  Fort  Loudon  with  a  large  torce  and  continued  to  besiege 
it  until  the  garrison,   from  a  lack  of  provisions   and  ammunition, 

T.H.-3 


34  History  of  Tazewell  County 

was  forced  to  surrender.  It  was  agreed  that  the  soldiers  should 
return  to  the  settlements  armed  and  unmolested;  but^  while  on  their 
homeward  march,  they  were  suddenly  and  violently  attacked  by  a 
band  of  Cherokees  and  about  twenty  of  the  whites  were  killed. 
The  remainder,  about  two  hundred,  were  again  made  captives  and 
were  held  until  they  were  ransomed.  The  following  year,  1761, 
Colonel  Grant,  with  the  four  New  York  companies  and  a  large 
force  of  militia  from  the  Carolina  provinces,  invaded  the  Cherokee 
country  and  made  ruthless  war  against  its  inhabitants.  He  gave 
them  a  crushing  defeat  in  battle,  laid  waste  their  villages,  and 
destroyed  their  crops.  The  natives  who  escaped  death  were  driven 
into  the  mountains  and  were  compelled  to  make  an  ignominious 
peace.  Francis  Marion,  who  had  accompanied  Colonel  Montgomery 
on  his  expedition  the  year  previous,  was  also  with  Colonel  Grant ; 
and  the  gallant  South  Carolinian  afterwards  wrote  a  very  pathetic 
account  of  the  horrors  of  the  Grant  invasion.  From  that  time  until 
after  the  Revolution  the  relations  between  the  English  colonies  and 
the  Cherokees  continued  very  strained. 

Friendly  intercourse  with  the  Cherokee  Indians  had  been  culti- 
vated and  maintained  by  the  Virginia  Colonial  Government  previous 
to  the  time  that  the  pioneer  settlers  began  to  press  across  New 
River  and  locate  in  Southwest  Virginia.  Before  that  period  the 
Indian  traders  and  parties  of  hunters  from  Southside  and  Tidewater 
Virginia  had  journeyed  through  or  hunted  over  this  section;  and 
had  traveled  in  many  instances  on  to  the  Cherokee  settlements  in 
East  Tennessee  and  Western  North  Carolina,  where  they  were 
hospitably  received  by  the  Indians. 

The  Loyal  Company,  which  had  obtained  a  grant  for  800,000 
acres  of  land,  to  be  located  west  of  the  Alleghanies  and  north  of 
the  North  Carolina  line,  had  sent  its  explorers  and  surveyors  into. 
Southwest  Virginia.  Dr.  Thos.  Walker,  who  was  chief  surveyor 
and  agent  for  the  Loyal  Company,  had  made  repeated  expeditions 
to  the  Holston  and  Clinch  valleys,  and  had  surveyed  more  than 
two  hundred  thousand  acres  of  the  most  desirable  lands  of  this 
section,  located  at  many  different  points.  Many  boundaries  had 
been  sold  by  the  company,  and  the  purchasers  were  rapidly  settling 
upon  them.  The  Cherokees  grew  very  jealous  of  this  movement 
to  deprive  them  of  their  great  hunting  grounds  and  began  to  mani- 
fest a  hostile  disposition  toward  the  settlers  in  the  Holston  Valley. 

The  Six  Nations   (Iroquois)  of  New  York  also  claimed  these 


and  Southwest  Virginia  35 

hunting  grounds,  and  in  fact  asserted  ownership  to  all  the  Virginia 
territory  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains,  including  the  great 
Valley  of  Virginia.  It  was  determined  by  the  British  Government 
to  secure  by  treaties  a  cession  of  the  territory  in  dispute,  claimed 
by  both  the  Iroquois  and  the  Cherokees.  In  accordance  with  this 
plan,  a  treaty  was  made  at  Fort  Stanwix  on  the  5th  day  of 
November,  1768,  with  the  Confederacy  of  the  Six  Nations,  whereby 
they  ceded  to  the  King  of  England  a  vast  territory,  including  the 
disputed  lands  in  Virginia.  The  treaty  was  negotiated  by  Sir  Wil- 
liam Johnson,  who  was  Agent  and  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs 
for  the  Northern  Department  of  America.  Dr.  Thos.  Walker, 
Agent  of  the  Loyal  Company,  was,  by  appointment.  Commissioner 
to  represent  Virginia,  and  as  such  sigTied  the  treaty.  As  before 
stated  the  Loyal  Company  had  sold  a  number  of  boundaries  of  land 
to  settlers  in  the  disputed  territory  west  of  New  River,  and  was 
anxious  to  have  both  the  Iroquois  and  the  Cherokees  renounce  all 
claim  to  the  territory.  A  number  of  boundaries  in  Tazewell  County 
had  been  sold  to  different  persons,  among  the  purchasers  being 
William  Ingles,  wlio  had  bouglit  lands  in  Burke's  Garden.  Abbs 
Valley,  and  several  boundaries  on  the  headwaters  of  Clinch  River 
from  the  Loyal  Company.  The  Iroquois  claimed  title  to  the  ceded 
territory  by  right  of  conquest.  Nearly  a  hundred  years  previous 
to  the  making  of  the  Fort  Stanwix  treaty  they  had  invaded  the 
country  of  the  Southern  Indians,  and  had  conquered  all  the  Southern 
tribes,  from  the  Ohio  River  down  as  far  as  Georgia  and  east  of  the 
Mississippi.  This  included  the  Cherokees ;  and  that  was  the  reason 
why  the  Shawnees.  who  were  a  detached  tribe  of  the  Iroquois,  dis- 
puted the  right  of  the  Cherokees  to  hunt  in  the  Clinch  Valley  about 
the  time  the  pioneer  settlers  began  to  arrive  there. 

On  the  13th  of  October,  1768,  about  three  weeks  previous  to  the 
treaty  made  at  Fort  Stanwix,  John  Stuart,  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs  for  the  Southern  District  of  North  America,  had  met  the 
chiefs  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Cherokee  Nations,  at  Hard  Labor. 
South  Carolina,  and  had  concluded  a  treaty  with  them,  which  fixed 
the  boundaries  of  their  territory  or  hunting  grounds  in  Virginia. 
By  this  treaty  the  Cherokees  acquired  undisputed  ownership  of  all 
the  region  west  of  New  River,  from  Colonel  Chiswell's  mine  (lead 
mines  in  Wythe  County)  to  the  confluence  of  the  Great  Kanawha 
with  the  Ohio  River. 

This  treaty  was  very  unsatisfactory  to  the  Loyal  Company  and 


36  History  of  Tazewell  County 

its  agents,  and  to  a  number  of"  persons  who  had  purchased  lands 
from  tlie  company  and  settled  with  their  families  thereon.  These 
settlers  began  to  contest  the  right  of  the  Cherokees  to  enter  tliis 
section  and  assert  ownership,  claiming  that  the  title  of  the  Six 
Nations  was  superior  to  that  of  tlie  Cherokees  and  that  it  had  been 
transferred  by  the  Northern  Indians  to  the  British  Government. 
Steps  were  taken,  however,  to  make  a  new  treaty  with  the  Chero- 
kees ;  and  this  was  accomplished  by  Stuart  at  Lochaber,  South 
Carolina,  on  the  22nd  of  October,  1770.  By  the  provisions  of  this 
treaty  the  lines  fixed  by  the  treaty  at  Hard  Labor  were  so  changed 
as  to  cede  to  Virginia  the  territory  now  known  as  Southwest  Vir- 
ginia. The  lines  were  afterwards  run  by  Colonel  Donelson.  who 
was  appointed  for  that  purpose  by  Lord  Botetourt,  then  governor 
of  Virginia ;  and  the  Indians  accei^ted  the  lines  as  established  by 
the  Donelson  survey. 

From  the  date  of  tlie  Lochaber  treaty  to  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolutionary  War  the  Cherokees  remained  at  peace  with  the  Vir- 
ginia Colony.  While  the  war,  historically  known  as  Dunmore's  War, 
was  in  progress,  in  1774,  there  was  grave  apprehension  among  the 
settlers  in  the  Holston  Valley  that  the  Cherokees  would  again  make 
war  upon  the  whilt  s.  This  alarm  was  occasicmed  by  a  small  lawless 
band  of  white  men  led  by  a  man  named  Crabtree.  While  on  a 
hunting  expedition  on  the  Wautauga  River  in  Tennessee,  Crabtree, 
without  provocation,  killed  a  friendly  Cherokee  who  had  been  given 
the  English  name  Billey.  Major  Arthur  Campbell,  who  then  had 
his  fort  at  Royal  Oak,  just  east  of  Marion,  the  county  seat  of  Smyth 
County,  and  who  was  commander  of  all  the  militia  of  I'incastle 
County  west  of  New  River,  reported  the  incident  to  Colonel  Wil- 
liam Preston,  through  a  letter  written  in  June.  1771'.  In  part. 
Major  Campbell  said: 

"Sir — Since  the  rash  action  of  Killing  a  Cherokee  on  Wattaugo, 
the  lower  settlement  on  this,  and  Clynch  Rivers,  is  greatly  alarmed. 
Some  preparing  to  move  off.  and  indeed  from  the  behavior  of  the 
Squa  &  Indian  fellow,  that  Was  in  Company  with  the  one  that  was 
Killed;  we  may  expect  a  reprisal  will  be  made  shortly,  if  there  is 
not  some  Men  sent  to  cover  the  inhabitants,  until  the  matter  can 
be  made  up  with  the  Chiefs.  *  *  *  One  Crabtree  is  generally 
suspected  to  be  Principal,  in  the  late  dispatching  of  Cherokee  Billey. 
However  let  the  consequence  of  the  affair  be  what  it  will,   I   am 


and  Southwest  Virginia  37 

persuaded  it  would  be  easier  to  find  200  Men  to  screen  liim  from 
the  Law,  tlian  ten  to  bring  hiui  to  Justiee;  Crabtrees  different  rob-' 
beries,  the  Murder  of   Russell,   IJoons   &   Drakes   Sons   is  in  every 
ones  mouth." 

The  intimation  made  by  Major  Campbell  that  Crabtree  might 
be  screened  from  punishment  for  his  dastardly  crimes  by  a  majority 
of  the  frontiersmen  shows  that  a  very  peculiar  condition  existed  on 
the  frontier  at  that  time.  Evidently  there  were  either  many  bad 
men  on  the  border,  or  hatred  for  the  red  men  was  so  intense  with 
the  border  men  that  they  would  extenuate  any  offense,  no  matter 
how  grave  and  cruel,  committed  against  the  savages.  The  danger 
apprehended  by  the  settlers  in  the  Holston  Valley  was  happily 
averted  by  convincing  the  Cherokees  that  the  sober-minded  men  on 
the  Virginia  border  detested  the  conduct  of  Crabtree  and  his  profli- 
gate associates.  Messengers  were  sent  to  the  Cherokee  towns ;  and 
when  they  returned  to  the  Watauga  settlement,  it  Avas  with  the 
assurance  that  the  Indians  would  remain  peaceful  if  Crabtree  and 
his  associates  were  repressed.  This  was  done,  and  peace  was  main- 
tained with  the  Cherokees  until  they  were  incited  by  the  British  to 
join  them  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 

As  soon  as  the  British  Government  became  convinced  that  it  was 
the  purpose  of  the  American  colonies  to  throw  oft'  the  English 
yoke  and  establish  an  independent  government,  it  was  determined 
by  the  Royal  Government  to  solicit  and  organize  the  Indians  as 
allies  to  prosecute  war  against  the  colonies.  Agents  were  sent  to 
all  the  Southern  tribes  to  arouse  them  against  the  adjacent  colonies; 
and  in  the  spring  of  1776  the  Cherokees  and  the  neighboring  tribes 
had  enlisted  in  the  service  of  the  British  Government. 

Alexander  Cameron  was  then  the  British  agent  with  the  Chero- 
kee Nation;  and  it  was  through  his  nefarious  influence  and  by  his 
procurement  that  these  Indians  became  active  allies  of  the  British 
Government.  The  chiefs  and  warriors  were  assembled  together, 
and  the  desires  of  the  British  Government  disclosed  to  them;  and 
they  were  urged  to  make  ruthless  war  on  tiic  white  settlers.  Cameron 
promised  them  many  valuable  presents  and  abundant  supplies  of 
arms  and  ammunition,  told  them  they  would  be  at  liberty  to  plunder 
the  whites  who  had  settled  on  lands  that  had  been  taken  from  the 
Indians ;  and  that  their  hunting  grounds  should  be  restored  to  them. 
It  is  not  strange  that  these  alluring  promises  enlisted  the  support 


38  History  of  Tazewell  County 

of  the  rude  natives,  who  felt  they  had  been  cruelly  robbed  by  the 
white  men. 

Three  weeks  after  the  adoption  and  promulgation  of  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence,  on  the  22nd  of  July,  1776',  President  Rut- 
ledge  of  South  Carolina  notified  the  Virginia  Council,  which  then 
had  charge  of  the  affairs  of  tiie  colony,  that  the  Cherokees  had 
begun  hostilities  against  the  Cieorgians,  and  the  Cai-olinians.  On 
the  26th  of  July,  the  Council  of  Safety  of  North  Carolina  sent 
notice  to  tlie  Virginians  that  the  Indians  were  preparing  to  make  an 
attack  on  Colonel  Chiswell's  Lead  Mines,  in  Wythe  County,  for 
the  purpose  of  cutting  off  the  Southern  colonies  fi'om  the  supply 
of  lead  they  were  receiving  from  these  mines.  The  Virginia  Council 
determined  to  act  promptly  against  the  Cherokee  tribes,  and  sent 
orders  to  Colonel  William  Preston,  county  lieutenant  for  Fincastle 
County,  to  erect  a  fort  at  the  Lead  Mines,  which  was  done  as 
promptly  as  possible.  Another  step  taken  by  the  Virginia  Council 
was  the  organization  of  two  battalions  of  militia  to  send  into  the 
Cherokee  countr}'.  Colonel  William  Christian  was  made  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  military  expedition  as  well  as  commander  of  the 
first  battalion.  Colonel  Charles  Lewis  was  placed  in  command  of 
the  second  battalion. 

In  October,  1776,  Colonel  Christian  assembled  his  small  army 
at  Long  Island  on  the  Holston  River.  His  entire  force  numbered 
but  2,000  men,  of  whom  400  came  from  North  Carolina.  With  but 
little  delay  the  march  was  commenced  toward  the  Indian  towns  in 
the  mountains  of  North  Carolina.  The  expedition  was  uninterrupted 
until  the  army  arrived  at  a  crossing  of  the  French  Broad  River. 
There  a  force  of  about  3,000  Cherokees,  with  a  few  Creeks  and 
Tories,  were  waiting  to  give  battle  to  Colonel  Chi'istian's  forces. 
From  fear,  or  for  some  other  cause,  the  Indians  retreated  in  the 
night  time  and  returned  to  their  homes.  Colonel  Christian  followed 
them  to  their  towns,  where  he  remained  for  two  weeks,  and  had  his 
men  burn  the  cabins  and  destroy  the  corn  and  other  supplies  of  the 
Indians.  The  Cherokees  were  thoroughly  cowed  and  sued  for  peace. 
They  proposed  to  surrender  all  the  prisoners  they  were  holding, 
to  restore  the  liorses  and  other  property  they  had  taken  from  the 
white  settlers,  and  to  relinquish  all  claim  to  the  lands  the  settlers 
were  already  occupying.  On  these  terms  a  truce  was  effected,  and 
Colonel  Christian  returned  witli  his  forces  to  Virginia.  The  fol- 
lowing spring  a  treaty  of  peace  was  concluded  between  the  Upper 


and  Southwest  Virginia  39 

Cherokee  Nation  and  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  at  the  Great 
Island  of  Holston  Biver. 

After  the  makino-  of  the  treaty  at  Great  Island  there  were 
sporadic  outbreaks  against  the  settlers  tliat  continued  at  intervals 
until  the  Revolutionary  War  terminated.  During  this  period  several 
bands  of  the  Chcrokees  moved  down  the  Tennessee  River  and  formed 
settlements  at  Chickamauga  and  at  different  points  on  tlie  Ten- 
nessee-Alabama line.  In  ^779  the  British  agents  persuaded  one  of 
the  Chickamauga  bands,  who  were  led  by  Chief  Dragging  Canoe,  to 
commence  preparations  for  attacks  on  the  frontier  settlements  of 
North  Carolina  and  Virginia.  To  meet  these  threatened  attacks 
the  two  States  jointly  organized  a  force  of  volunteers;  and  Colonel 
Evan  Shelby  was  put  in  command  of  them.  He  assembled  his  army 
at  the  mouth  of  Big  Creek  on  the  Clinch  River,  near  where  Rogers- 
ville,  Tennessee,  is  now  located.  There,  Shelby  was  joined  by  a 
regiment  of  men,  commanded  by  Colonel  John  Montgomery,  and 
who  had  been  enlisted  to  be  used  as  a  reinforcement  to  General 
Clark,  then  operating  against  the  British  in  the  Illinois  country. 
Shelbj'  built  canoes  for  his  small  army  and  traveled  in  that  way 
down  the  Tennessee  River  until  he  arrived  at  Chickamauga.  The 
arrival  of  Shelby  and  his  army  was  a  great  surprise  to  the  Indians. 
A  large  amount  of  supplies  tliat  hail  been  furnished  the  Indians  by 
the  British,  valued  at  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  was  captured, 
the  towns  were  destroyed,  and  the  horses  and  cattle  of  the  Indians 
were  driven  back  to  the  settlements.  Shelby  then  destroyed  his 
fleet  of  canoes  and  marched  his  army  back  to  the  settlements  on 
foot.  This  was  the  last  expedition  of  note  made  by  the  Virginia 
settlers  exclusively  against  the  Cherokees. 

At  last  the  mountaineer  Indians  of  the  Soutliern  Alleghanies 
were  subdued  and  made  to  acknowledge  the  sovereignty  of  the 
United  States.  This  was  accomplished  by  a  treaty  made  on  the  28th 
of  November,  1785.  Under  this  treaty  the  Cherokees  were  given 
assured  unmolested  possession  of  their  hunting  grounds.  "Then 
began  the  ever-recurring  story  of  white  man's  encroachments  and 
red  man's  resistance,  with  the  ultimate  advantage  on  the  side  of  the 
intruders."  By  treaties  made  in  1791  and  1798  the  Cherokees  were 
forced  to  surrender  large  portions  of  their  territory  to  greedy  white 
men  and  many  of  their  people  emigrated  west  of  the  Mississippi. 

Just  about  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  Moravian 
missionaries  began  their  work  among  the  Cherokees  and  Ihe  Indians 


40  History  of  Tazewell  County 

were  raj)idl_v  becoming  civilized  and  C'hristianized.  but,  regardless 
of  the  fact  that  the  Cherokees  had  rendered  valuable  service  to  the 
United  States  in  the  war  with  England  in  1812-15,  the  white  men 
of  Georgia  demanded  the  removal  of  those  of  the  tribe  who  still 
remained  in  that  State.  Drastic  laws  against  the  treaty  rights  of 
the  red  men  were  enacted  b}'  the  Legislature  of  Georgia;  and  the 
Federal  Government  proclaimed  its  inability  to  maintain  its  treaty 
obligations.  Gold  had  been  discovered  within  the  territory  of  the 
Cherokee  Nation  near  the  present  Dahlonega,  Georgia.  This  dis- 
covery greatly  increased  the  clamor  of  the  white  men  for  the  removal 
of  the  Indians  to  another  section  of  the  country.  After  a  prolonged 
but  hopeless  struggle,  which  was  led  by  John  Ross,  the  great  chief 
of  the  Nation,  they  were  compelled  to  submit  to  the  white  man's 
greed  and  give  up  their  lands  and  homes. 

On  the  28th  of  December,  1835,  a  treaty  was  made  by  which  the 
Cherokees  sold  the  entire  territory  they  still  possessed,  and  they 
agreed  to  move  to  the  country  set  apart  for  them  in  the  Indian 
Territory.  The  removal  took  place  during  the  winter  of  1838-39; 
but  was  not  accomplished  without  much  resistance  on  the  part  of 
the  unwilling  Indians,  and  the  infliction  of  many  cruelties  by  the 
white  men.  They  were  driven  from  their  homes  by  military  force; 
and  in  the  progress  of  their  tragic  exodus,  by  estimate^  lost  in 
various  ways  one-fourth  of  their  entire  tribe.  Upon  their  arrival 
in  the  Indian  Territory  they  reorganized  their  government,  which 
had  first  been  formed  in  1820  and  modeled  after  the  government 
of  the  United  States.  At  the  time  the  main  body  of  the  tribe  was 
removed,  several  hundred  of  the  unfortunate  and  persecuted  people 
fled  to  the  wildest  mountain  sections  of  North  Carolina,  where  they 
remained  unmolested  until  1812.  Then,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of 
a  trader  named  William  H.  Thomas,  the  refugees  were  granted 
])ermission  to  remain  in  Western  North  Carolina,  and  lands  were 
set  apart  for  their  occupation  and  use.  A  number  of  their  d"scend- 
ants  are  now  living  in  Swain  and  Jackson  counties  of  that  State  on 
what  is  known  as  the  Qualla  Reservation. 

Since  the  Cherokees  settled  upon  their  reservation  west  of  the 
Mississippi  they  have  made  marvelous  advancement  in  education 
and  material  prosperity.  In  1821  a  mixed  blood.  Sequoya  by  name, 
invented  a  Cherokee  alphabet,  and  gave  his  nation  a  position  in  the 
literary  world,  as  their  books  and  newspapers  have  since  been 
printed    in    their  own    language.      Sequoya    was   the   son   of   a   white 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


41 


man  aiul  a  Cherokt'c  woman  of  mixed  blood.  Slio  was  tlir  daughter 
of  a  chief.  Sequoya  was  born  in  the  Cherokee  town  of  Taskigi. 
Tennessee,  about  the  year  17(50.  and  was,  tlierefore,  more  tlian  three 
score  years  old  when  he  made  the  splendid  invention  for  his  people. 


The  iibove  if<  a  portrait  ul'  Sequoya,  and  is  made  from  a  photograiili 
of  the  bronze  statue  of  the  great  Indian  that  was  pUiced  in  Statuary 
Hall  in  rlie  National  Capitol,  and  unveiled  June  Gth,  1917.  The  statue 
was  placed  there  to  represent  Oklahoma.  On  the  left  is  a  marble  statue 
of  Daniel  Webster,  representing  Massachusetts,  and  on  the  right  a 
marhle  statue  of  Stephen  Fuller  Austin,  who  was  the  founder  of  the 
State  of  Texas.  Austin  was  born  in  Wythe  County.  Va.  The  author 
is  indebted  to  Senator  Kobt.  I^.  Owen,  of  Oklahoma,  for  the  photograph 
from  which  the  above  cnt  was  made. 

When  the  Civil  War  beyan.  a  majority  of  the  Cherokees  enlisted 
in  the  ser\ice  of  tlie  Southern  Conft'deracy.  Afany  of  them  were 
slave  owners  and  were,  therefore,  under  Southern  inHnence;  and 
they  may  ha\e  remembered  that  the  l'nil«d  Stales  Go\crtmient  had 


42  History  of  Tazewell  County 

repeatedly  violated  its  treaty  obligations,  and  had  finally  driven 
them  from  their  cherished  homes  in  the  Southern  Alleghanies. 
Some  of  the  tribe  adhered  to  the  National  Government.  Their 
territory  was  overrun  by  both  Confederate  and  Federal  military 
forces,  and,  as  a  consequence,  they  were  in  a  very  prostrate  condition 
at  the  close  of  the  war.  By  a  treaty  made  in  1867  the  Cherokees 
were  again  brought  under  the  protection  of  the  Federal  Government. 
In  1867  the  Delawares,  and  in  1870  tlie  Shawnees,  who  had  been 
living  in  Kansas,  moved  to  the  Indian  Territory.  Combined,  the 
two  tribes  numbei-ed  1,750  souls,  and  they  incorporated  with  the 
Cherokee  Nation.  The  Cherokee  Commission  was  created  in  1889 
for  abolishing  the  tribal  governments  and  opening  the  Territory 
to  white  settlers.  Negotiations  to  that  end  were  carried  on  for 
fifteen  years  before  a  final  arrangement  was  made  by  which  the 
government  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  was  abolished  on  the  3rd  of 
Marcli.  1906.  Following  this,  the  Indian  lands  were  divided,  and 
the  Cherokees,  both  native  and  adopted,  were  made  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  The  Cherokee  Nation  now  numbers  41,824  persons, 
and  is  composed  as  follows :  B)'^  blood,  36,432 ;  by  intermarriage. 
286;  Delawares,  187;  Freedmen,  4,919.  Of  these  8,703  are  full 
blood,  4,778  one-half  or  more,  and  23,427  less  than  half  blood. 

THE   SHAWNEES. 

A  concise  narrative  of  the  origin  and  performances  of  the  Shaw- 
nee tribe  of  Indians  should  be  of  special  interest  to  the  people  of 
the  Clinch  Valley,  and  to  all  persons  who  have  been  connected  in 
any  manner  with  this  historic  section  of  Virginia.  Though  the 
Cherokees  asserted  superior  title  or  right  to  this  region,  and  may. 
possibly,  have  occupied  it  for  a  considerable  period  to  the  exclusion 
of  all  other  tribes  of  the  aborigines,  the  Shawnees  included,  there 
is  no  satisfactory  evidence,  visible  or  tangible,  which  proves  that 
the  Cherokees  ever  used  it  for  any  other  purpose  than  a  hunting 
ground.  It  is  also  an  undisputed  fact  that  the  Shawnees  never  visited 
the  Clinch  Valley  with  the  intention  of  making  their  homes  there. 

The  Shawnees  were  for  a  long  while  a  difficult  problem  to  inves- 
tigators of  the  different  families  and  tribes  of  the  North  American 
Indians.  Many  theories  have  been  advanced  as  to  their  origin,  their 
earliest  location,  and  their  relationship  and  associations  with  other 
tribes  of  tlieir  race.  But  on  account  of  the  indefinite  character  of 
their  name,  their  innate  disposition  to  wander  and  to  confine  their 


and  Southwest  Virginia  43 

wanderings  to  the  unexplored  interior^  none  of  the  theories  of  the 
investigators  have  been  accepted  with  perfect  confidence.      Philol- 
ogists have  agreed  that  linguistically  the  Shawnee  belongs  to  the 
Central  Algonquian  dialect;  and  all  investigators  have  confidently 
announced  that  the  tribe  is  a  branch  of  the  great  Algonquian  family 
which  at  one  time  occupied  the  larger  portion  of  the  present  terri- 
tory of  the  United  States  lying  east  of  the  Mississippi  River  and 
south  of  Canada.     The  Shawnees  have  been  called  "The  Southern 
advance  guard  of  the  Algonquian  stock."     Beyond  this  it  has  been 
found  useless  to  try  to  trace  the  origin  of  the  tribe  or  to  place  them 
in  a  location  other  than  that  they  occupied  when  they  first  became 
known  to  men  of  the  white  race,  or  in  which  their  indefinite  tradi- 
tions may  locate  them.     Their  known  history  has  been  traced  back 
pretty  clearly  to  1660-70.     They  were  then  divided  into  two  distinct 
colonies  or  bands!     One  of  these  was  located  in  the  Cumberland 
Basin  in  Tennessee,  and  the  other  on  the  Middle  Savannah  in  South 
Carolina.      These   two   divisions   remained  separate   until  nearly   a 
century  later,  when  they  got  together  as  one  band  in  Ohio,  prior  to 
Dunmore's  War  in   1771.     This  peculiar  separation  of  an  Indian 
tribe  into  two  divisions,  living  so  widely  apart,  has  puzzled  and 
confused  most  of  the  students  of  the  Indian  race.     The  only  reason- 
able explanation  offered  for  this   anomalous   condition  is  that  the 
country   situated   between  the  two   colonies   of   the   Shawnees   was 
inhabited  by  the   Cherokees.     At  that  time  the  two  nations  were 
enjoying  the  friendliest  relations  as  neighbors  and  kinsmen.     It  is 
also  known  that  the  Cherokees  had  in  the  past  exercised  dominion 
over  the  territory  in  Tennessee  and  in  South  Carolina  on  which  the 
two   divisions   of   the   Shawnees   were   living,   and  had  invited   the 
nomads  of  their  race  to  cease  their  wanderings  and  make  settlements 
on  these  lands.     This  view  of  the  matter  is  strengthened  by  knowl- 
edge of  the  fact    that    there    is    substantial    evidence  that  the  two 
nations  intermingled  freely  and  intimately  for  many  years,  both  in 
South  Carolina  and  Tennessee.     It  is  further  sustained  by  the  fact 
that  the  Cherokees  resumed  possession,  under  claim  of  former  owner- 
ship, of  the  country  in  South  Carolina  and  in  Tennessee  vacated 
by  the  Shawnees  when  they  were  forced  to  again  become  homeless 
wanderers  and  traveled  toward  the  North. 

The  Shawnees  who  lived  in  South  Carolina  were  there  in  1670, 
and  were  there  when  the  first  settlement  was  made  by  the  whites 
in  that  province.     They  were  known  to  the  colonists  as  the  Savan- 


44  History  of  Tazewell  C'ounty 

nalis,  and  for  a  long  period  were  the  friends  of  the  white  settlers. 
In  1695  Governor  Archdale  spoke  of  them  as  "Good  friends  and 
useful  neighbors  of  the  English."  Their  principal  village  was 
situated  on  the  Savannah  River,  and  was  called  Savannah  Town. 
They  gradually  moved  away  from  Soutli  Carolina  on  account  of  the 
unjust  treatment  they  were  receiving  from  tlie  white  men.  Adair, 
in  his  history,  says  that  the  Shawnees  lived  on  the  Savannah  River 
"Till  by  our  foolish  measures  they  were  forced  to  withdraw  North- 
ward in  defense  of  their  freedom."  And  furtlur  says:  "By  our 
own  n)isconduct  we  twice  lost  the  Shawnee  Indians,  who  have  since 
proved  very  hurtful  to  our  colonists  in  general."  In  10'90  tliey 
began  lo  move  from  South  Carolina.  Some  of  them  settled  in  the 
Valley  of  Virginia  about  where  Winchester  is  located,  and  others 
journeyed  on  to  the  Cumberland  Valley  in  Maryland.  Subsequent 
to  their  arrival  at  these  places,  they  each  built  villages,  one  on  the 
present  site  of  Winchester  and  the  other  at  Oldtown,  near  Cumber- 
land, Maryland.  A  part  of  the  tribe  that  migrated  from  South 
Carolina  joined  the  Mohicans,  and  became  identified  with  tliem. 
Others,  who  had  settled  on  the  Delaware,  removed  to  tlie  W'yomiTUi 
Valley  in  Pennsylvania.  A  short  time  thereafter  they  were  joined 
by  a  small  band  who  had  located  at  a  point  on  the  Susquehanna 
River  in  ihv  j^rescnt  county  of  Lancaster.  Peiuisyhania.  In  IT^O 
the  Quakers  began  missionary  work  among  the  Shawnees  at  Wyom- 
ing:  and  in  1742  Zinzindorf.  the  zealous  Moravian  missionary,  joined 
the  Quakers  in  their  effort  to  convert  and  civilize  these  restless 
aborigines.  Under  the  gracious  influence  of  these  excellent  Christian 
workers  the  savage  impulses  of  the  Siiawnee  warriors  in  Pennsyl- 
vania were  suppressed;  and  for  a  long  time  they  remained  neutral 
in  the  French  and  Indian  War.  which  began  in  I75i<.  though  their 
kindred  in  Ohio  were  actively  engaged  as  allies  of  the  French 
against  the  English. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Western  Shawnees  were  inhabiting 
the  Cumberland  Basin,  a  region  that  was  isolated  and  not  in  the 
usual  course  traveled  by  the  European  explorers,  this  branch  of  the 
tribe  was  but  little  known  to  whit-:-  men  until  after  the  year  1714, 
In  that  year  a  French  trader  by  the  name  of  Charleville  went 
among  them  at  one  of  their  villages  located  near  the  present  Nash- 
ville, Tennessee,  They  were  then  being  gradually  driven  from  the 
Cumberland  region  by  the  Cherokees  and  the  Chickasaws,  with 
whom,  for  some  unknown  cause,  they  had  become  in\ol\ed  in  war. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  4o 

Soon  after  Charlt\  illc  arrived  among  them  in  his  capacity  of  trader, 
they  abandoned  the  Cumberland  Valley,  and  again  became  wan- 
derers. They  roamed  around  in  Kentucky  for  about  fifteen  years. 
That  country,  being  unoccupied  by  any  other  tribe,  was  an  ideal 
hunting  ground.  It  was  peculiarly  suited  to  the  Shawnees,  who 
were  passionately  fond  of  hunting  and  greatl}'  averse  to  agriculture. 
Blackhoof,  one  of  their  most  noted  chiefs,  was  born  while  they 
were  living  at  a  village  near  where  Winchester,  Kentucky,  is  now 
located.  About  1730  they  began  to  cross  over  into  Ohio  and  to 
make  settlements  on  the  Ohio  River,  in  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania, 
their  settlements  extending  from  the  Alleghany  down  to  the  Scioto. 
They  built  a  number  of  villages  along  the  river,  among  them  being 
Sawcunk,  Logstown.  and  Lowertown.  In  1718  the  Shawnees  on  the 
Ohio,  by  estimate,  had  162  warriors  or  about  six  hundred  persons  in 
that  division.  A  few  years  later  their  kindred  left  the  Susquehanna 
in  Pennsylvania  and  joined  them  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  The  two 
divisions,  one  formerly  located  on  the  Savannah  River,  and  the 
other  in  the  Cumberland  Basin  of  Tennessee,  were  united  into  one 
tribe  for  the  first  time  after  they  became  known  in  history. 

Following  their  reunion  on  the  Ohio  River,  the  history  of  the 
Shawnee  tribe  became  a  part  of  the  eventful  history  of  that  portion 
of  Virginia  lying  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains  and  south  of  the 
Ohio  RiAcr;  and  also  of  the  splendid  Northwestern  domain,  extend- 
ing north  to  the  I-akes  and  westward  to  the  ^rississijipi.  which  was 
presented  to  the  United  States  by  Virginia  in   1788. 

From  tile  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  until  the  treaty  of 
Greenville,  made  in  1795,  the  Shawnees  were  almost  constantly  hos- 
tile to  either  the  English  or  the  Americans.  In  17.51'  what  has 
always  been  called  the  French  and  Indian  Why  by  liistorians  was 
begun.  The  Shawnees  in  that  war  were  most  efficient  allies  of  the 
French,  who  were  engaged  in  a  mighty  struggle  with  the  English 
for  supremacy  in  North  America.  They  were  the  most  vital  force 
of  the  French  army  that  gave  such  a  humiliating  defeat  to  the 
British  army,  commanded  by  General  Braddock,  in  a  battle  fought 
near  Fort  Du  Quesne  on  June  19th,  1755.  George  Washington  pai- 
ticipated  in  the  battle  as  aide-de-camp  to  General  Braddock;  and  he 
was  singled  out  by  a  Shawnee  chief  and  his  band  of  warriors  as 
a  special  target  for  their  rifles.  They  fired  a  number  of  volleys 
at  the  intrepid  yoimg  Virginian,  killed  two  horses  under  him  and 
put  four  bullets  through  his  coat,  but  Washington  made  a  marvelous 


46  History  of  Tazewell  County 

escape  from  death  to  afterwards  become  the  beloved  "Father  of 
his  Country." 

The  French  and  Indian  War  was  not  finally  concluded  on  land 
until  1760;  and  the  Shawnees  were  hostile  to  the  English  all  through 
the  protracted  conflict.  After  France,  in  1763,  ceded  her  entire 
possessions  in  North  America  east  of  the  Mississippi,  save  New 
Orleans,  to  the  English,  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  North,  including 
the  Shawnees,  ceased  for  a  brief  period  making  attacks  upon  the 
English  colonies.  But  the  acquisition  of  New  France  by  Great 
Britain  gave  only  temporary  rest  to  the  western  frontiers  of  Vir- 
ginia. Reckless  frontiersmen,  both  from  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania, 
persisted  in  committing  outrageous  depredations  upon  the  Indians 
who  lived  in  Ihc  Ohio  Valley;  and  the  pioneer  settlers  continued  to 
invade  and  apjDropriate  the  hunting  grounds  of  th^  natives.  The 
treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix,  in  1768,  and  that  of  Lochaber,  in  1770,  had 
accorded  the  red  men  lawful  possession  of  all  the  lands  in  Virginia 
beyond  the  Cumberland  Mountains  and  north  of  the  Ohio  River. 
Encroachments  by  the  wliitc  men  and  rejjrisals  on  the  part  of  the 
exasperated  red  men  finall}^  brought  on  the  war  called  Dunmore's 
War.  It  was  almost  exclusively  a  war  between  the  Shawnees  and 
the  Virginians  who  lived  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  and  Alleghany 
Mountains,  and  was  of  short  duration.  There  was  but  one  battle 
and  it  was  fought  at  Point  Pleasant,  where  the  Ohio  and  the 
Kanawha  rivers  come  together.  The  Virginians  were  commanded 
by  Colonel  Andrew  Lewis,  and  one  company  was  composed  of 
pioneer  settlers  from  the  Clinch  Valley,  who  were  under  the  com- 
mand of  Captain  William  Russell. 

A  little  less  than  two  years  after  the  battle  at  Point  Pleasant 
the  momentous  struggle  between  the  American  colonists  and  the 
mother  country  began,  and  the  British  Government  experienced 
very  little  difficulty  in  enlisting  the  support  of  the  Shawnees  against 
the  colonies.  During  the  Revolutionary  period,  and  for  some  years 
thereafter,  these  Indians  were  the  implacable  foes  of  the  Virginians ; 
and  wrought  bloody  havoc  upon  the  settlers  in  the  Clinch  Valley 
and  in  Kentucky.  Nearly  all  the  expeditions  sent  by  the  Americans 
across  the  Ohio  while  the  Revolution  was  in  progress  were  directed 
against  the  Shawnees.  W^ith  British  guidance  and  supjDort  they 
made  stubborn  resistance  to  the  Americans,  but  finally  were  driven 
from  the  Scioto  Valley  and  retired  to  the  head  of  the  Miami  River, 
from   which   region  the   Miami   tribe   had   withdrawn  a   few   years 


and  Southwest  Virginia  47 

previous.     After  the  Revolution  was  over,  having  lost  the  support 
of  the  British,  a  large  band  of  the  Shawnees  joined  the  Cherokees 
and  Creeks  in  the  South,  these  two  tribes  then  being  very  hostile 
to  the  Americans.     Another  small  band  united  with  a  part  of  the 
Delawares  and  accepted  an  invitation  from  the  Spaniards  to  settle 
at  a  point  near  Cape  Girardeau,  Missouri,  between  the  Mississippi 
and  Whitewater  rivers.     Those  who  remained  in  Ohio  continued  to 
give   the   American   Government   much   trouble   through   the   years 
1791-92-93.      In   1791   General  Artliur  St.   Clair,  tlien  governor  of 
the   Northwestern   Territory,   found   it   necessary   to  undertake   an 
expedition  with  the  intention  of  destroying  the  Indian  villages  on 
the  Miami.     On  the  ith  of  November,  1791,  he  came  in  contact  with 
the  hostiles  at  a  point  about  fifteen  miles  from  their  villages.     The 
Indians  had  a  large  force  and  gave  General  St.  Clair  a  crushing  and 
humiliating   defeat.      The   American   loss    in   the   engagement   was 
thirty-eight  officers  and  live  himdred  and  ninety-three  men  killed, 
and  twenty-one  officers  and  two  hundred  and  forty-two  men  wounded. 
This  frightful  reverse  was  a  severe  shock  to  both  the  Government 
and  the  American  people.     General  St.  Clair,  who  had  made  a  bril- 
liant record  in  the  Revolution,  was  so  humiliated  by  his  terrible 
defeat  that   he   resigned   as   governor   of   the   Territory.      General 
Anthony  Wayne  M'as  appointed  to  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  resig- 
nation of  St.  Clair.     In  August,  1794,  "Mad  Anthony,"  at  the  head 
of  three  thousand  men,  marched  against  the  Indians  on  the  Miami. 
On  the  14th  of  the  month  he  arrived  with  his  army  at  the  Rapids, 
and  made  an  ineffectual  effort  to  negotiate  a  peace  with  the  Indians. 
They  were  so  inflated  with  their  success  over  General  St.  Clair  that 
they   rejected   General   Wayne's   proposition   with   contempt.      On 
the  morning  of  the  20th  the  Americans  made  a  rapid  advance  upon 
the  Indians  and  soon  routed  and  put  them  to  flight.     For  three  days 
General  Wayne  kept  his  men  busily  engaged  destroying  the  houses 
and  corn  fields  of  the  enemy  in  that  vicinity,  and  a  few  days  later 
he  proceeded  to  lay  waste  their  entire  territory.     Wayne's  signal 
victory  so  thoroughly  cowed  the  Indians  that  he  had  no  difficulty 
in  making  a  satisfactory  treaty  with  them  in  1795,  by  which  they 
were  forced  to  surrender  tlieir  lands  on  the  Miami  and  retire  to 
the  headwaters  of  Anglaize  River,  still  further  to  the  northwest. 
The  more  hostile  part  of  the  tribe  left  Ohio,  crossed  the  Mississippi 
and  joined  their  kindred   who  had  settled  at   Cape  Girardeu,  in 
Missouri. 


48  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Tiu'  Sliawufts  still  luld  the  2)<^'sitioii  of  leading  tribe  of  the 
American  aborigines  inhabiting  the  country  between  the  Ohio  and 
the  Wabash.  Tecumseh  was  their  chief;  and  he  was,  beyond  a  doubt, 
the  greatest  leader  the  tribe  had  ever  produced.  He  had  a  brother, 
Tenskawatawa,  who  was  called  the  Prophet,  and  who  pretended 
to  be  in  communication  with  the  spirit-world  and  to  receive  reve- 
lations therefrom.  The  Prophet  secured  the  confidence  of  the 
superstitious  members  of  his  own  and  of  neighboring  tribes,  and 
gathered  a  large  number  of  followers  in  his  village  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Tippecanoe  River.  Tecumseh  and  his  brother  had  originated  a 
plan  for  uniting  all  the  tribes  of  the  Northwestern  Territory  in  a 
desperate  effort  to  throw  back  the  invading  white  settlers,  and  pre- 
vent further  encroachments  upon  the  territory  of  the  Indians. 

In  September,  1809,  General  Harrison,  then  governor  of  the 
Indiana  Territory,  gathered  the  chiefs  of  several  tribes  together  antl 
purchased  from  them  three  million  acres  of  land.  Tecumseh  not 
only  refused  to  sign  the  treaty,  but  declared  he  would  kill  any  of 
the  chiefs  who  aflSxed  their  names  to  the  paper.  He  was  encouraged 
in  this  course  of  resistance  by  the  British,  as  England  was  then 
involved  in  a  controversy  with  United  States  which  eventuated  in 
the  War  of  1812.  In  1811  Tecumseh,  at  the  instigation  of  the 
British  Government,  made  a  visit  to  the  Cherokees  and  other 
Southern  tx'ibes  to  enlist  their  support  of  his  amiounced  purpose 
to  drive  back  the  white  settlers,  who  seemed  determined  to  keep 
driving  the  Indians  further  and  still  further  west.  Demands  had 
already  been  made  by  Tecumseh  and  the  leaders  of  other  tribes 
for  an  abrogation  of  the  Fort  Wayne  treaty  and  a  relinquishment 
of  the  lands  ceded  thereby  to  the  United  States.  This  demand  was 
promjitly  rejected  by  Governor  Harrison.  Every  movement  of 
Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet  showed  that  hostilities  could  not  be 
avoided  by  the  Americans,  and  the  Government  ordered  General 
Harrison  to  take  immediate  steps  for  the  protection  of  the  frontiers 
fi-om  attack.  He  promptly  assembled  a  force  of  three  thousand 
men,  composed  of  regulars  and  militia,  at  Vincennes;  and  marched 
into  the  Indians'  country.  On  the  6th  of  November  he  appeared 
before  the  town  of  the  Prophet,  and  on  the  following  murnmg,  tne 
7th  of  November,  1811,  the  celebrated  battle  of  Tippecanoe  was 
fought  and  a  glorious  victory  was  won  by  the  Americans.  After 
destroying  the  town  of  the  Prophet,  General  Harrison  marched  his 


and  Soutliwesl  \'ir<>;iiiia 


49 


victorious  army  l)ac'k  to  Viiicennt'S.     Tlic  power  of  the  Proplu-l  was 
broken,  and  the  Indians  submissively  sued  for  peaee. 

Upon  his  return  from  the  South.  Teeumseh  found  all  liis  plans 
had  been  wrecked  by  the  premature  battle  of  Tippecanoe;  and  he 
remained  in  comparative  seclusion  until  the  breaking  out  of  the 
\^'ar  of  IS  12.  He  then  gathered  his  forces,  some  two  thousand  in 
number,  and  joined  the  British  army  in  Canada.  There  he  was 
received  most  cordially  and  was  distinctly  honored  by  being  made 


Above  is  shown  :i  pdrtrait  of  Tecuniseli  (properly  Tihiniiihi  or 
Tecumthu,  mciiuin.ii-  '•('ronchiiiii-  rjuither"  and  "Shooting  Star").  He 
was  born  in  17US  at  the  Shawnee  vilhige  of  Piqua,  about  six  miles  south- 
west of  the  present  city  of  Springtielcl,  Ohio.  The  portrait  is  made  from 
a  print  furnished  the  author  hy  the  Bureau  of  Etlmology  ;  and  Teeumseh 
is  dressed  in  his  uniform  of  a  British  l)rigadier  general.  He  was  killed 
at  the  battle  of  tlie  Thames  on  Octoliei-  .■■)th,  1S18.  The  shot  that  killed 
Teeumseh  was  fired  by  Ilichard  Mentor  Johnson,  a  native  Virginian,  but 
tlien  a  resident  of  KentuckA".  He  was  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States  1837-1S41. 

a  brigadier  general  in  the  Jiritish  army.  He  proved  iiimself  a  most 
valuable  ally  of  the  JJritisli,  and  fought  gallantly  at  Frenchtown. 
The  Raisin,  Fort  Meigs,  and  Fort  Stephenson.  After  Commodore 
Perry  defeated  the  British  on  Lake  Erie,  Teeumseh  covered  the 
retreat  of  General  Proctor  very  effectively,  but  insisted  when  the 
army  arrived  at  the  Thames  that  the  Britisli  general  should  make 
a  stand  at  that  river.  This  was  done,  and  on  the  5th  of  October, 
1813,  the  battle  of  the  Thames  was  fought,  resulting  in  the  over- 
whelming defeat  of  the  allied  English  and   Indian  forces  by  the 

T.H.-4 


50  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Americans,  who  were  under  the  command  of  General  William  Henry 
Harrison. 

Tecumseh  had  a  presentiment  tliat  he  would  be  killed  in  the 
battle.  This  caused  him  to  discard  his  general's  uniform  and  to 
array  himself  in  the  deerskin  dress  of  an  Indian  chief.  The  presen- 
timent came  true,  and  Tecumseh,  the  greatest  Indian  character  in 
American  history,  fell  in  front  of  his  warriors  while  urging  them 
on  to  battle  with  the  Americans.  The  war  spirit  of  the  Shawnees, 
and  other  Northwestern  tribes  who  had  come  under  liis  influence, 
was  completely  crushed  by  the  death  of  Tecumseh;  and  very  soon 
thereafter  most  of  the  tribes  accepted  the  terms  of  peace  offered  by 
General  Harrison. 

The  division  of  the  Shawnee  tribe  which  had  settled  some  twenty 
years  previously  in  Missouri  did  not  participate  in  the  War  of  1812 ; 
and  in  1825  they  sold  their  lands  in  Missouri  and  moved  to  a  reserva- 
tion in  Kansas.  In  1831  the  small  band  who  had  remained  in  Ohio 
sold  their  lands  and  joined  those  who  had  migrated  to  Kansas.  The 
mixed  band  of  Shawnees  and  Senecas  at  Louiston,  Ohio,  also  moved 
to  Kansas  about  the  same  time.  About  the  year  1845  the  larger 
part  of  the  tribe  left  Kansas  and  settled  on  the  Canadian  River  in 
the  Indian  Territory  (now  Oklahoma)  where  they  are  known  as  the 
"Absentee  Shawnees."  In  1867  that  part  of  the  tribe  that  was 
living  with  the  Senecas  moved  from  Kansas  to  the  Indian  Territory, 
and  they  are  now  known  as  the  "Eastern  Shawnees."  The  main 
body  of  the  tribe  in  1869,  by  an  intertribal  agreement,  was  incor- 
porated with  the  Cherokee  Nation,  with  whom  they  are  now  residing 
in  the  State  of  Oklahoma. 

In  1910  the  Eastern  Shawnees  numbered  107;  the  Absentee 
Shawnees  4<81 ;  and  those  who  became  a  part  of  the  Cherokee  Nation 
were  about  800,  making  a  total  of  about  1400  for  the  entire  tribe 
in  Oklahoma.  The  latest  estimates  given  in  the  1916  report  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  show  that  the  Eastern  Shawnees 
numbered  152,  of  whom  only  4  are  full  blood,  26  one-half  blood  or 
more,  and  122  less  than  half  blood.  From  this  same  report  it  is 
seen  that  the  number  of  Absentee  Shawnees  is  5G9,  of  whom  472 
are  full  blood,  80  are  half  blood,  or  more;  and  17  less  than  half 
blood.  The  800  Shawnees  who  were  incorporated  with  the  Chero- 
kees  in  1869  seem  to  have  lost  their  identity  as  a  tribe,  and  from 
intermarriage  or  adoption  are  now  regarded  as  Cherokees. 

The  latest  Government  estimate  places  the  entire  Shawnee  popu- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  51 

lation  in  Oklahoma  at  3,752.  Of  these  2,746  speak  the  English 
language,  2,535  read  and  write  the  English  language,  3,031  wear 
citizen's  clothing,  3.053  are  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  Stfi 
are  voters.  These  things  show  that  the  once  fierce  wandering  tribe 
is  beginning  to  yield  to  the  force  of  European  civilization,  and  is 
gradually  becoming  absorbed  by  the  American  Nation.  This  happy 
result  has  come  from  proper  treatment  of  the  nomads  by  the  Govern- 
ment, and  is  largely  due  to  supplying  them  with  schools. 

VIRGINIA    INDIANS THE    PAMUNKEYS. 

It  may  be  said  that  too  much  space  and  effort  have  been  given 
to  the  Aboriginal  Period  of  a  history  that  was  intended  primarily 
to  be  local  in  character.  However,  my  work  will  be  incomplete  if 
no  mention  is  made  of  the  tribes  that  were  living  in  Virginia  east 
of  the  Blue  Ridge  when  the  English  settlement  was  made  at 
Jamestown. 

Captain  John  Smith,  who  was  undoubtedly  the  most  important 
figure  and  character  among  the  first  settlers  at  Jamestown,  is  con- 
sidered by  all  historians  very  accurate  in  what  he  wrote  about  those 
portions  of  Virginia  of  which  he  had  knowledge.  He  states  that 
there  were  forty-three  tribes  in  that  part  of  the  present  Common- 
wealth that  lies  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  Of  these  numerous  tribes 
there  are  now  only  remnants  of  three  left  in  the  State,  the  Pamunkey, 
the  Chickahominy,  and  the  Mattapony;  and  none  of  the  members 
of  these  tribes  are  of  full  blood. 

The  scholarly  men  who  have  investigated  the  origin  and  names 
of  the  various  tribes  of  the  American  race  say  that  tlie  name  Pamun- 
key is  derived  from  parn,  which  means  sloping,  or  slanting;  and  anlci, 
which  means  hill,  or  rising  upland.  This  refers  to  a  tract  of  land 
in  what  is  now  King  William  County,  Virginia,  beginning  at  the 
junction  of  the  Pamunkey  and  Mattapony  rivers.  There  is  a  sloping 
hill  or  rising  upland  on  this  tract,  and  from  this  the  Pamunkeys 
received  their  tribal  name.  Captain  Smith  said:  "Where  the  river 
is  divided  the  country  is  called  Pamunke." 

At  the  time  the  settlement  was  made  at  Jamestown,  in  1(J07,  the 
Pamunkey  Indians  were  the  leading  tribe  of  the  Powhatan  Confed- 
eracy; and  they  were  then  living  about  the  junction  of  the  Pamunkey 
and  Mattapony  rivers  in  the  present  King  William  County.  Cap- 
tain Smith  then  estimated  their  number  at  nearly  300  warriors  or 
a  total  of  1,000  persons.     Their  principal  town,  which  was  destroyed 


52  History  of  Tazewell  rountv 

by  the  English  colonists  in  1625.  was  near  the  present  West  Point. 
Virginia,  at  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers.  In  1722  they  numbered 
about  two  hundred,  and  in  1781,  Thomas  .Jefferson  estimated  them 
at  about  sixty  persons  of  tolerably  pure  blood. 

They  were  very  hostile  to  the  English  colonists  after  the  death 
of  Powhatan,  until  the  death  of  their  chief  Opechancanough,  and 
their  frequent  conflicts  with  the  white  men  greatly  reduced  their 
numbers.  But  in  16.54  they  assisted  the  English  in  repelling  an 
invasion  made  by  the  tribes  from  the  mountains;  and  in  this  war  lost 
their  chief.  Totopotomoi.  and  one  luuidrcd  of  their  warriors.  In 
1675.  their  queen,  who  bore  the  title  of  "Queen  Anne,"  widow  of 
Totopotomoi.  aided  Governor  Berkeley  against  the  rebels  in  Bacon's 
rebellion.  For  this  service  the  Indian  queen  received  special  recog- 
nition from  the  English  Government.  In  1722  they  numbered  only 
about  200,  and  by  a  treaty  were  put  upon  a  reservation  of  three 
hundred  acres  in  a  bend  of  the  Pamunkey  River  in  King  William 
County,  opposite  the  historic  place  known  as  White  House.  They 
still  occupy  this  same  reservation  and  maintain  their  tribal  organi- 
zation under  State  supervision.  The  population  is  entirely  of  mixed 
blood  and  numbers  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  both  sexes.  They 
live  chiefly  by  hunting  and  fishing,  but  engage  in  farming  in  a 
small  way. 

TMK    CIIK  KAIIOMINY    INDIANS. 

The  Chickahominy  tribe  was  one  of  the  strongest  and  most 
important  in  Virginia  wlien  the  settlement  was  made  at  Jamestown 
in  1607.  It  was  coimected  witii  the  Powliatan  Confederacy,  but 
was  not  as  much  subject  to  the  control  of  the  so-called  emperor  as 
were  the  other  tribes  that  recognized  him  as  their  ruler.  They  were 
living  on  the  Chickahominy  River  when  the  colony  was  planted  at 
Jamestown,  and  the  tribe  then  had  about  250  warriors,  or,  perhaps, 
some  nine  hundred  persons  of  all  ages  and  sexes.  As  early  as  1613 
they  formed  an  alliance  with  the  English  settlers  and  assumed  the 
name  of  Tassantessus,  or  Englishmen.  There  is  now  a  band  of  mixed 
blood,  numbering  about  225  persons,  who  are  the  descendants  of  the 
ancient  tribe,  but  with  no  regular  tribal  organization.  They  live  on 
a  reservation  on  both  sides  of  the  Chickahominy  River  in  the  coun- 
ties of  New  Kent  and  Charles  City;  and  are  intimately  associated 
with  the  Pamunkey  and  Mattapony  tribes.  Their  principal  pursuits 
are  hunting  and  fishing. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  53 


THK    MATTAI'ONY. 

There  was  a  small  tribe  living  on  tlie  river  whieli  is  now  called 
Mattapony.  in  Virginia.  This  tribe  liad  the  same  name  as  the  river 
npon  which  they  li\c(l.  Captain  John  Smith  on  liis  map  gave  tlic 
name  "Mattapanicnl"  lo  the  town  in  which  they  lived,  and  it  was 
located  in  the  upper  part  of  the  {jresent  James  City  C'oimty.  near 
the  mouth  of  Chickahominy  River.  It  was  a  very  small  tribe  but 
a  member  of  the  Powhatan  Confederacy.  In  1(308,  the  year  after  the 
settlement  at  Jamestown,  the  tribe  had  only  thirty  men,  or  a  total 
of  perhaps  one  hundred  persons.  In  1781,  according  to  Jefferson, 
they  numbered  only  fifteen  or  twenty  and  were  largely  of  negro 
blood.  According  to  the  last  census  there  were  about  fifty  persons 
of  mixed  blood  living  on  a  small  State  reservation  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Mattapony  River,  in  King  William  County.  They  are  closely 
related  to  the  Pamunkey  tribe,  whose  reservation  is  only  ten  miles 
distant. 

THE    INDIANS    IN    TAZEWELL    COl'NTY. 

In  that  Chapter  of  his  history  entitled  "Introduction  To  Indian 
Wars  of  Tazewell."  Bickley  says: 

"I  have  thought  proper  to  trace  the  history  of  the  Indians,  who 
have,  since  1539,  inhabited  Southwestern  Virginia.  These  have 
been  the  Xualans,  Shawnees,  and  Cherokees,  the  latter  of  whom 
will  not  be  noticed  at  length.  History,  indeed,  throws  but  little 
light  on  this  interesting  subject,  yet,  I  imagine,  more  than  is  gen- 
erally supposed." 

Dr.  Bickley  permitted  his  imagination  to  get  away  with  him 
when  he  asserted  that  a  mythical  tribe  called  Xualans  and  the  Shaw- 
nees, in  succession,  inhabited  Southwest  Virginia  since  1539,  until 
the  coming  here  of  tlie  whites.  He  also  drew  largely  on  his  imagin- 
ation by  asserting  that  De  Soto  with  his  band  of  explorers  visited 
the  Upper  Holston  and  Clinch  Valley  regions,  that  is,  "the  counties 
of  Tazewell  and  Washington,  Va.,  as  early  as  1510."  The  Bureau 
of  American  Ethnology,  which,  in  the  Handbook  of  American 
Indians,  gives  the  names  of  the  hundreds  of  tribes  and  thousands 
of  subordinate  tribes  that  inhabited  the  North  American  Continent 
during  the  many  centuries  preceding  the  coming  of  the  white  men 
to  the  continent,  makes  no  mention  of  the  Xualans.     The  Handl)ook 


54  History  of  Tazewell  County 

is  compiled  from  the  investigations  made  by  numbers  of  the  most 
learned  and  diligent  ethnologists,  archaeologists,  and  investigators 
of  the  Indian  race,  and  none  of  these  found  any  traces  of  the 
so-called  Xualan  tribe.  Bancroft,  the  diligent  researcher  and 
America's  greatest  historian,  says  not  one  word  about  the  Xualans. 
There  is  no  existing  reliable  evidence  to  prove  that  a  tribe  called 
Xualans  ever  inhabited  Southwest  Virginia.  Nor  is  there  anything 
to  show  that  any  part  of  Tazewell  County  was  occupied  at  any  time 
by  any  portion  of  either  the  Cherokee  or  Sha^vnee  tribes  for  other 
purposes  than  hunting  grounds.  The  Cherokees  were  chiefly  ah 
agricultural  people,  and  they  built  their  permanent  homes  in  a 
milder  climate,  where  the  land  was  easier  cleared  of  the  forests  and 
the  soil  more  easily  tilled  than  in  this  section  of  Virginia.  When 
the  first  settlers  came  to  the  Clinch  Valley  they  found  the  whole 
region  a  dense  forest,  abounding  in  trees  that  were  of  five  hundred 
or  a  thousand  years'  growth.  No  marks  were  discovered  on  the  soil 
showing  that  it  had  ever  been  cultivated  by  the  Indians,  and  no 
implements,  even  of  the  rudest  kind,  have  been  found  here  that  wen 
used  by  the  aborigines  for  agricultural  purposes. 

To  support  his  claim  that  an  extinct  tribe  called  the  Xualans, 
once  occupied  the  Clinch  Valley,  Bickley  says:  that  traces  of  many 
forts  and  towns  were  to  be  seen  in  1852  in  Southwest  Virginia. 
He  says: 

"These  cannot  be  Cherokee  forts,  though  they  captured  the 
Xualans,  and  hence  became  masters  of  the  country,  for  they  do  not 
build  forts  in  the  same  manner;  beside,  the  trees  growing  on  some 
of  them,  prove,  beyond  doubt,  that  they  have  been  e\acuated  three 
hundred  years.  That  they  were  towns  as  well  as  forts,  is  proven 
by  the  existence  of  many  fragments  of  earthenware,  etc.,  found  on 
or  around  them,  and  from  their  shape  and  general  location  they 
were  certainly  forts." 

"Thej^  were  circular,  varying  in  size  from  three  hundred  to  six 
hundred  feet  in  diameter.  An  embankment  of  earth  was  thrown 
up  some  five  or  six  feet,  and,  perhaps,  this  mounted  by  palisades. 
A  few  of  these  towns  or  forts  were  built  of  stone  and  sometimes 
trenches  surrounded  them.  A  stone  fort  of  great  size,  stood  in 
Abb's  Valley,  in  Tazewell  County,  Virginia,  and  has  but  lately  been 
removed.  *  *  *  The  remains  of  a  remarkable  fort  are  to  be 
seen  on  the  lands  of  Mr.  Crockett,  near  Jeffersonville,  having  evident 


and  Southwest  Virginia  55 

traces  of  trenches,  and  something  like  a  flravvbrirlgc.  This  fort  lias 
been  evacuated,  judging  from  the  timber  on  it,  over  two  hundred 
years."  ^  ^  ' 

These  forts  or  fortifications  were  either  built  by  the  Cherokees  or 
some  one  of  the  tribes  that  contested  with  them  the  right  to  use 
the  Clinch  Valley  as  a  hunting  ground.  More  than  two  hundred 
years  before  the  time  Bickley  was  engaged  in  writing  the  history 
of  Tazewell  County,  the  Iroquois  had  driven  the  Cherokees  from 
their  hunting  grounds  in  what  is  now  known  as  Southwest  Virginia; 
and  the  Northern  Indians  held  dominion  over  this  territory  for 
many  years.  In  fact,  they  claimed  it  by  right  of  conquest  until  they 
ceded  it  to  Great  Britain  by  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  in  1768. 
Both  the  Cherokees  and  the  Iroquois  built  just  such  fortifications 
as  Bickley  describes  and  of  which  there  were  remains  seen  in  1852. 
The  Cherokees  built  similar  forts  in  Ohio  before  they  migrated  to  the 
South;  and  the  Iroquois  built  them  in  New  York.  The  prehistoric 
remains  mentioned  by  Bickley  were,  no  doubt,  originally  fortifica- 
tions constructed  by  hunting  parties  of  one  or  the  other  of  these 
tribes,  while  they  were  hunting  here  in  the  summer  or  fall  season. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  the  Cherokees  and  Shawnees  asserted 
very  fiercely  rival  claims  to  the  Clinch  Valley ;  and,  no  doubt,  had 
many  bloody  encounters  over  the  question  as  to  who  should  occupy 
it.  The  last  encounter  between  these  two  tribes  took  place  in  1768 ; 
and  the  battle  was  fought  on  the  top  of  Rich  Mountain  just  west 
of  Plum  Creek  Gap,  and  about  three  miles  southwest  of  the  town 
of  Tazewell.  Tradition  says  that  about  two  hundred  Cherokee 
warriors  participated  in  the  battle,  and  the  inference  is  that  the 
Shawnees  had  a  superior  force,  as  they  were  the  attacking  party. 
On  the  occasion  of  this  battle  the  Cherokees  protected  their  position 
on  the  top  of  the  mountain  with  a  temporary  breastwork  or  fort. 
Bickley  sa3^s:  "It  consisted  of  a  simple  embankment,  about  three 
or  four  feet  high)  running  east  and  west  along  the  top  of  the  moun- 
tain about  eighty  yards,  and  then  turning  off  at  right  angles  to  the 
north  or  down  the  mountain  side.  The  Shawanoes  commenced  the 
ascent  of  the  mountain  before  night  of  the  first  day,  but  finding 
their  enemies  so  strongly  fortified,  withdrew  and  posted  themselves 
in  a  position  to  commence  the  attack  early  the  following  morning." 

The  emergency  fort  built  by  the  Cherokees  on  the  top  of  Ricli 
ISfountain  was  so  similar  in  feature  to  the  fort  in  Abb's  Valley  and 


56 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


the  one  on  Mr.  Crockett's  place  near  Jefi'ersonville,  that  it  warrants 
the  belief  that  these  two  were  also  emergency  forts,  that  they  were 
built  by  the  Cherokees  to  protect  themselves  against  a  superior  foe, 
and  not  for  permanent  occupation.  This  was  the  last  battle  between 
the  Indians  that  took  place  in  Tazewell,  and  tlie  last  in  which  the 
Cherokees  and  Shawnees  were  engaged  as  foes.  Though  the  battle 
was  fought  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  traces  of  the  breast- 
works, hastily  erected  by   the  Cherokees,  are  still   plainly  discern- 


The  above  scene  is  a  historic  one.  It  is  made  from  a  photograph  of 
Phmi  Creek  Valley,  as  it  now  appears,  where  the  first  settlements  were 
made  in  Tazewell  County.  The  camera  was  placed  a  short  distance 
north  of  the  residence  of  tlie  late  T.  E.  George ;  and  Thomas  Witten, 
the  tirst  settler,  built  his  cabin  in  1767  about  half  a  mile  west  of  the 
hay  rick  shown  in  the  picture.  Looking  southward.  Rich  Mountain  is 
seen ;  and  the  little  black  cross  marks  "Battle  Knob",  where  the  Chero- 
kees and  Shawnees  fought  their  last  battle  In  176S.  Some  two  miles 
west  of  Battle  Knob  can  l)e  seen  "Morris'  Knob",  which  has  an  elevation 
of  4,510  feet  above  sea  Uvel.  The  view  from  IMorris'  Knob  is  one  of 
the  grandest  on   the  Nortli  American   Coiitineut. 

ib'.e.  This  strongly  substantiates  the  theory  that  the  forts  mentioned 
by  Bickley  were  built  for  emergency  defence  by  either  the  Chero- 
kees or  the  Iroquois,  who.  no  doubt,  engaged  in  frequent  encounters 
for  the  possession  of  the  splendid  hunting  grounds  in  the  Clinch 
Valley  region. 

T^ickley  says:  "lioth  parties  were  well  armed  and  the  contest 
nearly  equal,  the  Shawanees  ha\ing  most  men.  while  the  Cherokees 
had  the  advantage  of  the  breastworks.  Through  the  long  day  the 
i)alllc   raged   with   unabated   vigor,   and    when   night    closed   in.  both 


and  Southwest  Virginia  57 

parties  built  tires  and  cani))erl  on  the  ground.  During  tiie  night  the 
Cherokees  sent  to  Butler  and  Carr  for  powder  and  lead,  which  they 
furnished.  When  the  sun  rose  the  following  morning  the  battle  was 
renewed  with  the  same  spirit  in  which  it  had  been  fought  the 
previous  day.  In  a  few  hours,  however,  the  Shawanees  were  com- 
pelled to  retire.  The  loss  on  both  sides  was  great,  considering  the 
numbers  engaged.  A  large  pit  was  opened  and  a  common  grave 
received  those  who  had  fallen  in  tliis  last  battle  fought  between  red 
men  in  this  section." 

Dr.  Bickley  further  states  that  he  received  an  account  of 
the  battle  from  a  person  who  received  it  from  Carr,  an  eye- 
witness. Dr.  Bickley  was  misinformed  as  to  who  furnished  powder 
and  lead  to  the  Cherokees  after  their  ammunition  became  exhausted. 
Thomas  Witten  was  then  living  with  his  family  at  the  Crabapple 
Orchard ;  and  he  was  the  man  who  supplied  the  Indians  with  powder 
and  lead.  This  statement  is  made  from  substantial  traditions  that 
have  come  down  through  three  several  branches  of  Thomas  Witten's 
descendants.  Samuel  Cecil  was  a  grandson  of  Thomas  Witten,  the 
pioneer  settler,  and  was  born  in  1788  at  a  point  within  less  than  a 
mile  of  where  his  grandfather  lived.  He  was  told  by  his  grandfather, 
and  by  his  mother,  who  was  Nancy  Witten  previous  to  her  marriage 
with  William  Cecil,  that  Thomas  Witten  gave  the  powder  to  the 
Indians.  Samuel  Cecil  was  the  grandfather  of  the  author,  and  I 
received  this  information  tlirough  him.  Judge  Samuel  C.  Graham's 
grandfather  was  William  Witten.  a  grandson  of  Thomas  Witten, 
and  Judge  Graham  got  a  similar  account  through  his  grandfather. 
John  S.  Bottimore  is  a  grandson  of  Thomas  Witten  3rd,  who  was 
a  grandson  of  Thomas  Witten,  the  first  settler;  and  Mr.  Bottimore 
has  received  the  same  tradition  from  his  grandfather.  Carr  was 
a  professional  hunter  and  trapper,  still  lingering  in  the  Clinch 
Valley,  and  may,  possibly,  have  witnessed  the  battle  between  the 
Indians. 


58  History  of  Tazewell  Coimtv 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    INDIANS,    THEIR    CIVILIZATION,    GOVERNMENT, 
MANNERS   AND    RELIGION. 

The  civilization  of  the  aboriginal  Inhabitants  of  the  North 
American  Continent  was  not  onh'  verj-^  crude  but  very  diverse  from 
that  which  was  brought  here  by  the  Europeans.  Man,  wherever  he 
has  been  found,  even  in  the  wildest  forms  of  life,  has  disclosed  a 
sociable  nature,  and  a  disposition  to  have  a  home  somewhere,  of 
some  kind.  This  natural  love  of  man  for  society  and  companionship 
caused  the  North  American  aborigines  to  have  both  families  and 
communities.  As  a  natural  sequence,  every  Indian  community  had  its 
social  organization  and  a  form  of  government.  The  Handbook  of 
American  Indians,  issued  by  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  has 
this  to  say  about  the  social  and  other  organizations  of  the  aboriginal 
inhabitants : 

"The  known  units  of  the  social  and  political  organization  of  the 
North  American  Indians  are  the  family,  the  clan  or  gens,  the 
phratry,  the  tribe,  and  the  confederacy.  Of  these,  the  tribe  and 
the  confederation  are  the  only  units  completely  organized.  The 
structures  of  only  two  or  three  confederations  are  known,  and  that 
of  the  Iroquois  is  the  type  example.  The  confederation  of  the 
tribes  was  not  usual,  because  the  union  of  several  tribes  brought 
together  many  conflicting  interests  which  could  not  be  adjusted 
without  sacrifices  that  appeared  to  overbalance  the  benefits  of  per- 
manent confederation,  and  because  statesmanship  of  the  needed 
breadth  and  astuteness  was  usually  wanting.  Hence  tribal  govern- 
ment remains  as  the  prevailing  type  of  social  organization  in  this 
area.  In  most  tribes  the  military  were  carefully  discriminated  from 
the  civil  functions.  The  civil  government  was  lodged  in  a  chosen 
body  of  men  usually  called  chiefs,  of  whom  there  were  commonly 
several  grades.  Usually  the  chiefs  were  organized  in  a  council 
exercising  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive  functions  in  matters 
pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  tribe.  The  civil  chief  was  not 
by  virtue  of  his  office  a  military  leader.  Among  the  Iroquois  the 
civil  chief  in  order  to  go  to  war  had  to  resign  his  civil  function  dur- 
ing his  absence  on  the  warpath." 


and^Southwest  Virginia  59 

Every  structural  unit  vvliich  composed  tlic  tribal  organization 
was  invested  with  and  exercised  authority  to  hold  councils  for  the 
consideration  and  determination  of  its  own  affairs.  They  had 
family  councils,  clan  councils,  tribal  councils,  and  confederation 
councils,  eacli  of  them  exercising  a  separate  and  independent  juris- 
diction. Sometimes  the  Indians  held  grand  councils,  at  which  ques- 
tions of  vital  interest  to  the  tribe  were  considered  and  determined. 
A  grand  council  was  composed  of  the  chiefs  and  sub-chiefs,  the 
matrons,  and  the  head-warriors  of  the  tribe.  With  a  very  few 
exceptions  the  chiefs  of  the  various  tribes  were  merely  the  leaders 
and  not  the  rulers.  Most  of  the  chiefs  were  elective  and  were  chosen 
because  of  some  particular  qualification,  such  as  courage  and  skill 
in  war,  oratorical  powers,  wisdom  in  council,  and  so  forth. 

The  Indians  had  no  written  language,  and,  therefore,  could  and 
did  not  have  any  written  code  of  laws.  Their  forms  of  government 
were  the  outgrowth  of  their  instincts  and  wants  as  individuals  and 
communities;  and  were  conducted  with  as  little  restraint  upon 
personal  liberty  as  possible.  Savage  opinion  sanctioned  no  laws 
that  restricted  the  exercise  of  their  passions  and  restrained  personal 
freedom.  Their  simple  forms  of  government  were  established  upon 
the  basal  concejDt  "that  freedom  is  the  law  of  nature." 

A  historian  has  said:  "The  most  striking  characteristic  of  the 
race  was  a  certain  sense  of  personal  independence,  wilfulness  oi 
action,  freedom  from  restraint."  Consequently  slavery  was  unknown 
among  the  aboriginal  tribes  who  occupied  the  regions  east  of  the 
Mississippi.  A  mild  form  of  bondage,  however,  did  exist  with  the 
primitive  tribes  that  inhabited  the  region  that  bordered  on  the  Upper 
Pacific  Coast.  With  the  exception  of  this  area,  no  traces  of  real 
slavery  have  been  found  among  the  Indians  who  lived  north  of 
Mexico.  The  early  French  and  Spanish  historians  fell  into  the 
error  of  using  the  terms  "slave"  and  "prisoner"  interchangeably, 
thereby  leaving  the  impression  that  certain  of  the  tribes  of  whom 
they  were  writing  did  make  slaves  of  their  enemies,  those  who  were 
made  prisoners  in  the  inter-tribal  wars.  It  is  true  that  the  men, 
women,  and  children  who  were  made  captives  were  always  con- 
sidered spoils  of  war,  but  they  were  not  enslaved.  They  were 
either  killed  or  adopted  into  an  Indian  family,  the  institution  of 
adoption  being  very  general  among  the  numerous  tribes.  "When  a 
sufficient  number  of  prisoners  had  been  tortured  and  killed  to  glut 
the  savage  passions  of  the  conquerors,  the  rest  of  the  captives  were 


60  History  of  Tazewell  County 

adopted,  after  certain  preliminaries,  into  tlie  several  gentes,  each 
newly  adopted  member  taking  the  place  of  a  lost  husband,  wife,  son, 
or  daughter,  and  being  invested  with  the  latter's  rights,  privileges. 
and  duties." 

The  chief  motive  of  the  red  men  for  tlie  exercise  of  the  custom 
of  ado])ti()n  was  to  replace  the  losses  their  tribes  suffered  in  men 
killed  in  battle,  and  women  and  children  who  were  killed  or  captured 
by  their  enemies.  This  was  done  lo  kccj)  the  tribes  from  dwindling 
away,  as  did  most  of  the  Virginia  tribes  that  the  white  men  found 
east  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  Tlie  custom  was  also  used  by  the  Indians 
toward  their  wliite  captives.  John  Sailing,  who  was  made  a  prisoner 
in  1726  by  a  Cherokee  hunting  party,  at  or  near  the  Lick  where  the 
city  of  Roanoke  is  now  located,  was  afterwards  captured  from  the 
Cherokees  by  the  Illinois  Indians,  and  adopted  by  a  squaw  of  that 
tribe,  to  take  the  place  of  her  son  who  liad  been  killed  in  battle. 
Thomas  Ingles,  who  was  captured  when  a  small  boy  at  the  Draper's 
Meadows  massacre  in  1755,  was  adopted  into  a  Shawnee  family  in 
Ohio.  He  lived  with  the  Indian  family  for  thirteen  years,  and 
became  so  attached  to  his  Indian  father,  mother,  sisters,  brothers, 
and  little  squaw  sweethearts  that  lie  refused  to  leave  tliem  when  his 
white  father  sent  a  man  by  tlu-  name  of  Baker  to  Ohio  to  ransom 
and  bring  him  home. 

James  and  Polly  Moore,  and  Martha  Evans,  vho  are  known  in 
history  as  the  "Captives  of  Abb's  Valley,"  after  they  were  taken 
to  the  Shawnee  towns  in  Ohio  were  similarly  adopted.  They  were 
so  kindly  treated  by  those  who  made  them  members  of  their  families 
that  they  always  spoke  in  affectionate  terms  of  the  Indians  after 
their  return  from  captivity.  Bickley  says:  When  Martha  Evans  and 
Polly  Moore  were  among  the  French,  they  fared  much  worse  than 
among  the  Indians.  The  French  had  plenty,  but  were  miserly  and 
seemed  to  care  little  for  their  wants.  The  Indians  had  little,  but 
would  divide  that  little  to  the  last  particle." 

INDIAN    EDUCATIONAL    SYSTP^MS. 

After  stating  that  the  Indians  had  no  written  language  and  no 
code  of  laws,  it  may  seem  paradoxical  to  say  that  they  had  systems 
of  education.  Yet  they  did  educate  their  young  with  as  much  care 
along  certain  lines  as  any  civilized  nation  gives  to  the  training  of 
its  children.  The  Indian  children  were  instructed  in  vocational  or 
economic  pursuits,  such  as  hunting,  fishing,  handicraft,  agriculture 


and  Southwest  \'irginia  61 

and  household  work.  And  in  some  of  the  tribes  they  were  taught 
oratory,  art.  customs,  etiquette,  social  obligations,  and  tribal  lore. 
The  red  men  had  a  system  that  in  modern  parlance  would  be 
called  kindergarten.  At  a  very  tender  age  the  children  were  put 
to  work  at  serious  business,  the  girls  to  household  duties  and  the 
boys  to  learn  the  most  important  pursuits  followed  by  the  men. 
The  children  were  supplied  with  appropriate  toys  or  models,  which 
they  were  required  to  use  as  patterns  for  fashioning  similar  articles ; 
and.  unconsciously,  they  would  develop  into  basket-makers,  weavers, 
potters,  water-carriers,  cooks,  archers,  stone-workers,  and  agricul- 
turists. The  range  of  instruction  was  regulated  by  the  pursuits 
and  customs  of  the  tribe  to  which  the  children  belonged. 

When  the  aborigines  came  into  intimate  contact  with  the  white 
men.  the  Spaniards,  the  French,  the  English,  the  Dutch,  and  the 
Swedes,  a  new  era  of  secular  and  industrial  education  was  intro- 
duced among  the  Indians.  Christian  missionaries  commenced  their 
work  in  Florida,  in  Canada,  in  the  Mississijipi  Valley,  in  Virginia, 
in  New  England,  in  New  York,  and  in  New  Jersey.  The  main  pur- 
pose of  the  missionaries  was  to  convert  the  heathen  natives  to 
Christianity.  Though  they  failed  to  accomplish  much  in  that  direc- 
tion, they  did  succeed  in  infusing  into  the  Indians  many  of  the 
industrial  processes  of  the  Europeans.  From  the  colonists  of  the 
different  nationalities  that  made  settlements  in  North  America  the 
red  men  obtained  and  learned  how  to  use  firearms,  metal  tools,  and 
domestic  animals — horses,  sheep,  cattle,  goats,  hogs,  and  poultry. 
Possession  of  these  caused  a  gradual  change  to  take  i^lace  in  the 
Indian  system  of  education.  One  of  the  objects  in  colonizing  Vir- 
ginia, mentioned  in  the  charter  of  1606  and  repeated  in  that  of  1621. 
was  "to  bring  the  infidels  and  savages  to  human  civility  and  a  settled 
and  quiet  government." 

Henrico  College,  which  was  founded  in  1618.  was  intended  to  be 
used  as  much  for  the  education  of  Indian  youths  as  for  the  whites. 
In  1619  the  council  of  Jamestown  declared  its  desire  and  purpose 
to  educate  the  Indian  children  in  religion,  a  civil  course  of  life,  and 
in  some  useful  trade.  But  the  benevolent  professions  and  intentions 
of  the  early  settlers  at  Jamestown  were  destroyed  by  greed;  and 
a  cruel  policy  of  extermination  of  the  natives  was  substituted  for 
that  of  education  and  regeneration  of  the  poor  "infidels  and  savages." 
The  pioneers  who  settled  beyond  tlie  mountains  in  Virginia  imbibed 
this  spirit  of  extermination  from  the  inhabitants  who  lived  east  of 


62  History  of  Tazewell  County 

the  Blue  Ridge,  and  drove  the  natives  from  the  country  they  had 
so  long  loved  and  occupied  as  hunting  grounds. 

After  the  government  of  the  United  States  was  organized,  va- 
rious Christian  organizations  established  secular  day  and  boarding- 
schools  among  the  Indians.  The  Roman  Catholics,  Moravians,  and 
Friends  were  the  pioneers  in  this  work.  Later  on  the  Baptists, 
Methodists,  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians,  and  other  less  prominent 
denominations  also  took  up  the  work.  When  the  War  Department 
was  created  in  1789,  Indian  affairs  were  committed  to  that  depart- 
ment of  the  Federal  Government,  and  remained  there  until  1849, 
when  the  Indian  Bureau  was  transferred  to  the  Department  of  the 
Interior. 

General  Knox,  Secretary  of  War  under  Washington's  adminis- 
tration, made  an  urgent  appeal  for  industrial  education  of  the 
Indians ;  and  President  Washington  united  with  Knox  in  the  recom- 
mendation. It  seems  that  the  Knox  plan  was  adopted  on  a  small 
scale;  and,  in  a  message  to  Congress  in  1801,  President  Adams  men- 
tioned the  success  of  the  effort  "to  introduce  among  the  Indians  the 
implements  and  practices  of  husbandry  and  the  household  arts."  In 
1819  Congress  made  its  first  appropriation  of  $10,000  for  Indian 
education,  and  provided  that  superintendents  and  agents  to  distri- 
bute and  apjDly  the  monej'^  should  be  nominated  by  the  President. 

In  the  year  1825  there  were  2.'}  Indian  schools  receiving  govern- 
ment aid.  The  first  contract  school  was  established  on  the  Tulalip 
reservation,  in  the  State  of  Washington,  in  1869,  but  not  until  1873 
were  government  schools  proper  provided.  The  Handbook  of 
American  Indians,  edited  by  Frederick  Webb  Hodge,  says:  "In 
the  beginning  there  were  only  day  schools,  later  boarding  schools 
on  the  reservations,  and  finally  boarding  schools  remote  from  them. 
The  training  in  all  the  schools  was  designed  to  bring  the  Indians 
nearer  to  civilized  life,  with  a  view  to  ultimate  citizenship  by 
enabling  them  to  assimilate  the  speech,  industrial  life,  family  organ- 
ization, social  manners  and  customs,  civil  government,  knowledge, 
modes  of  thinking,  and  ethical  standards  of  the  whites." 

More  than  three  centuries  have  passed  since  the  benignant 
promise  of  bringing  "the  infidels  and  savages  to  human  civility 
and  a  settled  and  quiet  government"  was  written  into  the  first  char- 
ter for  Virginia  issued  by  James  I ;  and  the  promise  is  now  being 
successfully  carried  out  by  the  Federal  Government.  This  is  accom- 
plished through  government  schools  for  the  Indians.     The  scheme 


and  Southwest  Virginia  63 

being  used  by  the  Indian  Office  is  "to  teach  the  pupils  English, 
arithmetic,  geograpliy,  and  United  States  history,  and  also  to  train 
them  in  farming  and  the  care  o£  stock  and  in  trade  as  well  as  gym- 
nastics." For  this  training,  day,  boarding,  and  ti-aining  schools 
are  maintained,  numbering  in  the  aggregate  253,  with  2,300  em- 
ployees, and  an  annual  expenditure  of  $5,000,000. 

INDIAN   MARRIAGE    CUSTOMS. 

There  was  much  diversity  in  the  marriage  customs  of  the 
aboriginal  tribes  of  North  America.  Though  they  were  so  com- 
pletelj'  removed  from  what  is  known  as  refined  civilization,  their 
marital  practices  were  of  unusual  merit,  much  superior  to  those  of 
other  barbarian  nations.  Whilst  polygamy  was  permissible  with 
a  few  of  the  tribes,  monogamy  was  almost  the  universal  practice 
with  the  nations  who  inhabited  that  part  of  the  continent  east  of 
the  Mississippi.  The  clan  or  gentile  systems  prevailed  among  all 
these  tribes.  These  systems  were  adopted  to  prevent  the  physical 
and  mental  deterioration  of  a  tribe  which  would  follow  the  repeated 
marriage  of  those  who  were  of  near  kinship. 

When  a  youthful  Indian  wanted  to  get  married  he  would  seek 
a  girl  who  was  a  competent  housewife,  and  the  girl  would  select  for 
her  mate  one  who  was  a  skilled  hunter.  Courtship  in  all  the  tribes 
of  the  Algonquian  family  were  practically  conducted  alike.  The 
parents  of  the  young  couple  would  generally  arrange  the  marriage, 
though  the  young  men  in  some  instances  were  allowed  to  conduct 
their  own  courtship.  Among  the  Delawares  the  mother  would  take 
the  presents  of  game  killed  by  her  son  to  the  parents  of  the  girl 
and  receive  gifts  in  return  from  them.  Then,  a  conference  would 
take  place  between  the  relations  of  the  young  lovers,  and,  if  a  mar- 
riage was  agreed  upon,  the  exchange  of  presents  would  be  continued 
for  some  time.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  all  these  rude  cere- 
monials were  merely  formal ;  and  that  the  lovers  had  frequent  happy 
meetings  before  and  while  their  relations  were  arranging  for  the 
marriage. 

Marriages  among  the  Iroquois  were  arranged  by  the  mothers 
without  the  knowledge  and  consent  of  the  young  folks.  Though  the 
marriage  bond  was  loose,  adultery  was  held  to  be  a  serious  crime. 
Divorce  was  easily  effected,  but  was  not  considered  creditable.  A 
husband  could  put  away  his  wife  whenever  he  found  fault  with  her, 
and  a  wife  could  separate  from  her  husband  with  like  ease.     If  the 


64  History  of  Tazewell  County 

divorcees  had  children;  the  olTspring  went  with  the  wife.  Divorces 
were  not  as  common  among  the  savages  as  they  are  now  among  the 
Englisli-speaking  nations,  the  American  Nation  in  particular,  which 
boasts  of  superior  Christian  civilization. 

Like  all  other  races  the  Indians  had  both  happy  and  unhappy 
marriages.  Infidelities  of  a  husband  sometimes  drove  his  faithful 
wife  to  suicide;  and  the  faithless  wife  was  without  protection,  and 
if  her  husband  insulted  or  disfigured  her,  or  even  killed  her,  no 
protest  was  made  by  her  relations  or  other  members  of  the  tribe. 

AMUSEMENTS. 

The  primitive  Indians  were  of  sombre  mien  and  sedate  manner, 
but  they  had  their  amusements  just  as  the  white  races  have  always 
had  theirs.  The  dance  was  almost  universal  with  the  American 
tribes.  Their  dances  were  mostly  ceremonial,  of  religion  and  of 
war,  but  they  also  had  the  social  dance.  When  not  engaged  in  hunt- 
ing or  on  the  warpath,  much  of  their  time  was  occupied  with  danc- 
ing, gaming  and  storj'-telling.  From  Hudson  Bay  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  border  of  the  plains,  the  great 
athletic  game  was  the  ball  play,  now  adojited  among  the  civilized 
games  under  the  name  of  lacrosse.  Athletes  were  regularly  trained 
for  this  game,  both  for  tribal  and  intertribal  contests.  Roosevelt, 
who  got  his  information  from  John  Bartram,  the  great  American 
botanist  who  visited  the  Cherokees   in  1773,  says  this  about  the  game: 

"The  Cherokees  were  a  bright,  intelligent  race,  better  fitted  to 
■follow  the  white  man's  road'  than  any  other  Indians.  Like  their 
neighbors  they  were  exceedingly  fond  of  games  of  chance  and  skill, 
as  well  as  of  athletic  sports.  One  of  the  most  striking  of  their 
national  amusements  was  the  kind  of  ball  play  from  which  we 
derive  the  game  of  lacrosse.  The  implements  consisted  of  ball 
sticks  or  rackets,  two  feet  long,  strung  with  raw-hide  webbing,  and 
of  a  deer-skin  ball,  stuffed  with  hair,  so  as  to  be  solid,  and  about 
the  size  of  a  base  ball.  Sometimes  the  game  was  played  by  fixed 
numbers,  sometimes  by  all  the  young  men  of  a  village;  and  there 
were  often  tournaments  between  different  towns  and  even  different 
tribes.  The  contests  excited  the  most  intense  interest,  were  waged 
with  desperate  resolution,  and  were  preceded  by  solemn  dances. 

"The  Cherokees  wei-e  likewise  very  fond  of  dances.  Sometimes 
these   were   comic  or  lascivious,   sometimes  they   were   religious   in 


and  Southwest  Virginia  65 

their  nature,  or  were  undertaken  prior  to  starting  on  the  war-trail. 
Often  the  dances  of  the  young  men  and  maidens  were  very  pictur- 
esque. The  girls,  dressed  in  white,  with  silver  bracelets  and  gorgets, 
and  a  profusion  of  gay  ribbons,  danced  in  a  circle  in  two  ranks ;  the 
young  warriors,  clad  in  their  battle  finery,  danced  in  a  ring  around 
them ;  all  moving  in  rythmic  step,  as  they  kept  time  to  the  antiphonal 
chanting  and  singing,  the  yovmg  men  and  girls  responding  alter- 
nately to  each  other." 

The  warriors  and  boys  of  nearly  all  the  tribes  amused  themselves 
at  target  practice  with  arrows,  Icnives,  or  hatchets,  thrown  from 
the  hand,  and  with  both  the  bow  and  rifle.  Games  resembling  dice 
and  hunt-the-button  were  played  by  both  sexes,  most  generally  in 
the  wigwams  during  the  long  winter  nights. 

The  women  had  special  games,  such  as  shinny,  football,  and  the 
deer-foot  game,  t'ootbail  was  not  played  by  the  Hugby  iiules,  but 
the  mam  object  was  to  keep  the  ball  in  the  air  as  long  as  possible 
by  kicking  it  upward.  The  deer-foot  game  was  played  with  a  num- 
ber of  perforated  bones  that  were  taken  from  a  deer's  foot.  They 
were  strung  upon  a  beaded  cord,  with  a  needle  at  one  end  of  the 
cord.  The  bones  were  tossed  in  such  a  way  as  to  catch  a  particular 
one  upon  the  end  of  the  needle.  The  children  also  had  ample  amuse- 
ments. They  had  target  shooting,  stilts,  slings  and  tops  for  the  boys, 
and  buckskin  dolls  and  playing  house  for  the  girls,  with  "Wolf"  or 
"catcher",  and  several  forfeit  plays,  including  a  breath  holding  test. 

RELIGION  OF  THE  INDIANS. 

"The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart.  There  is  no  God."  This 
emphatic  proclamation  by  the  Psalmist  of  the  mental  deficiency  of 
the  atheist  was  not  and  is  not  applicable  to  the  North  American 
Indians.  They  did  not  strive  through  mental  processes  to  establish 
the  existence  of  a  first  Great  Cause,  or  a  self-existent  Supreme 
Being;  but  with  simple,  child-like  faith  they  believed  that  an  invis- 
ible Almighty  Person  controlled  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  To  him 
they  directed  their  spiritual  thoughts  as  the  source  of  all  power, 
and  they  worshipped  him  as  the  Great  Spirit.  They  believed  that 
this  Great  Spirit  entered  into,  directed  and  dominated  everything 
throughout  the  Universe;  and  that  he  was  present  everywhere,  all 
the  time ;  ruling  the  elements,  protecting  and  caring  for  the  obedient 
and  good,  and  punishing  the  disobedient  and  wicked. 

Though  the  traditions  of  none  of  the  Indian  tribes  or  families 
T.H.-5 


66  History  of  Tazewell  County 

tell  of  any  direct  revelation  made  to  men  by  the  Great  Spirit,  their 
faith  was  as  strong  in  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being  and  a  future 
life  for  man  after  death  as  is  that  held  by  any  of  the  races  who 
worship  the  God  of  Abraham,  or  the  God  Man,  Jesus  Christ.  To 
the  Indians  the  mysteries  of  Life  and  Light  were  emblems  of  Life 
Eternal.  In  an  address  delivered  at  Boston  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1825,  Charles  Sprague,  in  protraying  the  characteristics  of  the 
North  American  Indians,  thus  eloquently  spoke  of  their  religious 
instincts : 

"Here,  too,  they  worshipped,  and  from  many  a  dark  bosom  went 
up  a  fervent  prayer  to  the  Great  Spirit.  He  had  not  written  his 
laws  for  them  on  tables  of  stone,  but  he  had  traced  them  on  the 
tables  of  their  hearts.  The  poor  child  of  nature  knew  not  the  God 
of  Revelation,  but  the  God  of  the  universe  he  acknowledged  in 
everything  around.  He  beheld  him  in  the  star  that  sank  in  beauty 
behind  his  lonely  dwelling ;  in  the  sacred  orb  that  flamed  on  him  from 
his  midday  throne ;  in  the  flower  that  snapped  in  the  morning  breeze ; 
in  the  lofty  pine  that  defied  a  thousand  whirlwinds ;  in  the  timid 
warbler  that  never  left  its  native  grove ;  in  the  fearless  eagle,  whose 
untired  pinion  was  wet  in  clouds;  in  the  worm  that  crawled  at  his 
feet;  and  in  his  own  matchless  form,  glowing  with  a  spark  of  that 
light,  to  whose  mysterious  source  he  bent  in  humble  though  blind 
adoration." 

Moralists  and  scientists  have  tried  in  vain  to  fathom  the  depths 
of  the  moral  and  religious  tenets  of  the  untutored  American  aborig- 
ines. These  simple  children  of  nature,  who  were  as  ferocious  as  the 
beasts  of  the  jungle  when  grappling  with  their  foes,  in  the  presence 
of  the  God  whom  they  worshipped  were  as  humble  and  reverent  as 
the  most  cultured  and  devout  expositors  of  the  enlightened  religions 
of  the  world.  Tlie  moral  law  was  given  to  the  Israelites  by  direct 
revelation  from  Jehovah;  and  was  transmitted  through  his  son, 
Jesus  Christ,  to  the  Gentile  nations.  It  was  given  to  the  Indians  by 
the  inspiration  or  visitation  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  and  this  was  why 
the  wild  red  men  of  the  American  forests  and  plains  recognized 
God's  presence  in  every  grandly  mysterious  or  beautiful  thing  in 
nature.  It  was  a  faith  that  emanates  from  the  contact  of  spirit  with 
spirit,  the  spirit  of  the  Living  God  touching  and  enlivening  tlic 
spirit  of  the  creature,  man.     Truly  has  it  been  written: 

"God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way. 
His  wonders   to  perform." 


and  Southwest  Virginia  67 

The  religious  concepts  of  the  North  American  tribes  were  more 
materialistic  than  rationalistic.  They  tried  to  reach  the  super- 
natural through  the  natural,  impelled  to  this  by  a  belief  that  there 
is  a  magic  or  inherent  power  in  natural  objects  more  potent  than 
the  natural  powers  of  man.  This  idea  of  a  magic  power  is  a  funda- 
mental concept  of  all  the  Indian  tribes;  and  they  believe  that  the 
strange  power  exists  in  visible  and  invisible  objects,  in  animals,  men, 
spirits,  deities,  and  so  forth.  The  Algonquian  tribes  called  it 
manito,  or  manitou;  with  the  Sioux  tribes  it  is  known  as  wakanda; 
and  the  Iroquois  call  it  orenda. 

The  aborigines  used  the  word  manito  to  express  the  unknown 
powers  of  life  and  of  the  universe.  In  the  vocabulary  of  the  white 
man  manito  means  spirit — either  good,  bad,  or  indifferent.  To  the 
Indians  the  name  also  signifies,  god,  or  devil,  guardian  spirit,  and 
so  forth. 

Most  of  the  tribes  believed  in  tutelary  or  patron  spirits — a  belief 
which  strongly  resemTales  the  Christian  concept  of  guardian  angel. 
The  manito  of  the  individual  Indian  is  supposed  to  invest  him  with 
magic  power,  and  with  it  abilities  to  become  a  successful  hunter, 
warrior,  priest,  or  to  imbue  him  with  power  to  acquire  wealth  and 
success  in  winning  the  love  of  women.  And  the  means  used  by  the 
red  men  to  control  or  influence  the  powers  of  nature  were  very  much 
like  those  adopted  by  the  white  races.  One  of  these  was  the  use 
of  charms,  as  still  employed  by  superstitious  and  ignorant  white 
persons.  Another  medium  was  prayer,  which  the  Indian  either 
directed  to  his  individual  protecting  spirit,  or  to  the  supreme  powers 
of  nature.  They  also  used  ceremonial  songs  of  a  peculiar  rhythm 
when  making  appeals  to  the  supernatural,  just  as  the  Jews  sing 
psalms  and  the  Christians  sing  hymns  and  anthems  in  their  services. 

Among  the  Indians  generally  there  was  a  strong  conviction  that 
if  the  supernatural  powers  were  offended  by  the  sin  or  sins  of  a 
particular  individual,  the  powers  could  be  propitiated  by  punish- 
ment of  the  offender.  This  was  accomplished  by  driving  the  offend- 
ing individual  from  the  tribe,  by  killing  him,  or  the  appeasement 
could  be  effected  by  a  milder  form  of  punishment.  The  milder 
form  was  most  generally  used. 

The  Indians  believe  that  disease  is  caused  by  the  presence  of 

a  material  evil  object  in  the  body  of  the  diseased  person,  or  is  due 

to  absence  of  the  soul  from  the  body.    Such  a  belief  will  not  appear 

so  unreasonable  when  we  remember  that  Christ  healed  maniacs  and 


68  History  of  Tazewell  County 

epileptics  by  casting  out  the  devils  that  were  in  the  poor  unfortu- 
nates. In  their  eiTorts  to  cure  diseases,  the  Indians  employ  their 
medicine-men,  who  claim  to  procure  their  powers  for  healing  from 
or  through  their  guardian  spirits.  The  medicine-man,  or  shaman 
works  himself  into  a  state  of  excitement  by  singing,  by  using  a  drum 
and  rattle,  and  by  dancing.  The  Indians,  who  are  very  superstitious, 
also  believe  in  witchcraft,  and  that  hostile  shamans  can  bring  disease 
to  the  bodies  of  their  enemies,  and  may  even  abduct  their  souls. 
So  believing,  the  aborigines  made  witchcraft  a  great  crime;  and 
punished  the  witch,  but  not  more  severely  than  did  the  Puritan 
fanatics  of  New  England. 


The  Indians  as  a  race  have  rejected  the  great  spiritual  verities 
that  Christ  planted  in  his  Church  nineteen  hundred  years  ago.  Why 
have  they  refused  to  accept  a  religion  that  is  so  exalted  in  its  purity, 
and  that  awakens  not  only  the  holiest  emotions  but  is  pillared  on 
the  profoundest  reason  of  which  man  is  capable  of  exercising?  Why 
do  the  red  men  scornfully  turn  away  from  a  religion  that  teaches 
the  highest  moral  standards,  and  that  is  filled  with  the  elemental 
principles  of  truth,  justice,  charity  and  righteousness.''  There  is 
not  much  trouble  in  finding  an  answer  to  these  questions.  The  white 
men  came  among  the  Indians  professing  to  have  a  religion  that  ha3 
been  revealed  to  them  by  the  Great  Spirit.  They  tendered  the  simple 
natives  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and 
the  Golden  Rule  as  divine  revelations  to  men.  These  the  white  men 
professed  to  believe  and  to  practice.  Naturally  the  aborigines  made 
the  practices  of  the  so-called  Christians  the  touchstone  by  which 
to  test  not  only  the  sincerity  of  the  white  man's  professions,  but 
to  fathom  the  quality  of  the  new  religion  that  was  brought  from 
beyond  the  seas.  The  Spanish  discoverers  and  conquerors,  and  the 
French  and  English  colonists,  each  and  all,  came  to  the  New  World 
proclaiming  their  desire  and  purpose  to  convert  the  heathen  natives 
to  Christianity.  But  the  great  human  passions — greed  of  gold,  and 
lust  of  pleasure  in  its  most  sensuous  forms — not  only  caused  them  to 
desecrate  the  holy  banner  they  bore  aloft,  but  to  violate  every 
precept  of  the  Decalogiie.  the  Sermon  on  the  ]\Iount,  and  the  Golden 
Rule.  They  murdered  and  robbed  the  Indians,  destroyed  and  drove 
them  from  their  homes,  and  dishonored  their  women.  Their  crimes 
were  not  confined  to  the  poor  natives;  but  they  oppressed,  killed 
and  robbed  each  other ;  frequently  assigning  their  fanatical  religious 


and  Southwest  Virginia  69 

beliefs  as  a  justification  for  committing  the  vilest  crimes  against 
men  and  women  of  tlieir  own  race.  Menendez,  tlie  Spanish  brute, 
massacred  the  entire  colony  of  French  Huguenots  on  the  St.  John's 
River  in  Florida,  offering  as  an  excuse  for  the  crime  that  they  were 
Protestants,  or  heretics ;  the  Cavaliers  of  the  Anglican  Church  in  Vir- 
ginia outlawed  the  dissenters,  the  Baptists  and  Presbyterians,  and 
drove  them  from  the  colony  to  North  Carolina  and  Maryland;  and 
the  Puritan  Calvinists  of  Massachusetts  and  the  other  New  England 
colonies  organized  at  Boston  a  military  force  which  was  sent  to 
Nova  Scotia  to  destroy  the  homes  and  drive  into  exile  the  French 
inhabitants  of  Acadia.  Bancroft  says:  "Seven  thousand  of  these 
banished  people  were  driven  on  board  ships  and  scattered  among 
the  English  colonies  from  New  Hampshire  to  Georgia;  one  thousand 
to  South  Cax'olina  alone."  Their  houses  and  barns  were  destroyed 
with  the  torch,  and  large  numbers  of  cattle,  hogs,  sheep,  and  horses 
were  forcibly  taken  and  divided  as  spoils  among  the  English  officers. 
The  annals  of  the  human  race  record  no  fouler  crime  than  the  one 
which  the  men  of  England  and  New  England  committed  upon  the 
defenceless  French  inhabitants  of  Acadia,  who  were  made  objects 
o£  cruel  vengeance,  because  as  they  declared:  "We  have  been  true 
to  our  religion,  and  true  to  ourselves."  The  Christian  religion  is 
pure  and  holy,  and  should  be  accepted  by  all  men;  but  is  it  any 
wonder  that  the  North  American  Indians  rejected,  and  still  reject 
it,  after  witnessing  its  perverted  exemplification  by  the  brutal  white 
men  who  claimed  to  be  Christians.'' 


Period  of  Discovery  and  Colonization 


Relating  the  Discoveries  and  Conquests  of  the 
Spaniards,  and  the  Discoveries  and  Settle- 
ments of  the  French  and  English 
in  America. 


PERIOD  OF  DISCOVERY  AND 
COLONIZATION 


CHAPTER  I. 

SPANISH    AND    FRENCH    DISCOVERIES    AND    CONQUESTS. 

In  the  preparation  of  a  purely  local  history  much  trouble  is 
experienced  by  a  writer  in  selecting,  from  many  collated  facts,  the 
things  most  important  and  only  essential  as  a  prelude  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  particular  subject  of  which  he  intends  to  write.  This 
difficulty  has  confronted  the  writer  while  preparing  to  write  the 
Pioneer  Period  of  Tazewell  County.  Most  of  the  local  historians 
of  this  country  have  considered  it  necessary  to  introduce  in  the 
opening  chapters  of  their  books  a  considerable  amount  of  informa- 
tion about  the  first  discoveries  of  the  North  American  Continent; 
and  also  to  write  much  of  the  performances  of  the  first  settlers  on 
its  shores.  Our  historians  in  Virginia,  both  State  and  local,  have 
followed  this  course  with  such  thoroughness  and  so  admirably  that 
it  seemed  useless  for  another  to  repeat  what  they  have  already  done 
so  well.  But  I  have  found  it  necessary  to  enlarge  upon  the  plan 
outlined  in  my  "Announcement"  and  have  added  another  Period, 
which  I  will  call  "The  Period  of  Discovery  and  Colonization." 
This  will  be  seen  to  be  an  important  necessary  link  to  connect  the 
Aboriginal  with  the  Pioneer  Period. 


As  to  those  who  have  been  reputed  the  very  first  discoverers  of 
the  New  World,  there  is  as  much  of  fable  as  of  reasonable  fact. 
It  has  been  claimed,  and  generally  accepted  as  true,  that  the  first 
white  men  who  ever  caught  sight  of  the  Western  Continent  were  with 
a  Norse  navigator  who  had  the  name  of  Herjulfson.  He  was  sail- 
ing fi-om  Iceland  to  Greenland  A.  D.  986,  was  caught  in  a  storm, 
and  was  driven  westward  to  Newfoundland  or  Labrador.  Herjulf- 
son saw  the  shores  of  a  new  country  but  made  no  attempt  to  go  on 
shore.  Upon  his  return  to  Greenland,  he  and  his  companions  told 
wonderful  stories  of  the  new  land  they  had  seen  in  the  west. 

E.  Benjamin  Andrews  in  his  history  of  the  United  States  says: 
"It  is  a  pleasing  narrative,  that  of  Lief  Ericson's  sail  in  1000-1001 
to  Helluland,  Markland,  and  at  last  to  Vineland,  and  of  the  subse- 
quent tours  of  Thorwald  Ericson  in  1002,  Thorfinn  Karlsefue, 
1007-1009,  and  of  Helge  and  Finnborge  in  1011  to  points  still 
farther  away.     Such  voyages  probably  occurred.     As  is  well  known, 

[73  1 


74  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Helluland  has  been  interpreted  to  be  Newfoundland;  Markland, 
Nova  Scotia ;  and  Vineland,  the  country  bordering  Mount  Hope  Bay 
in  Bristol,  R.  I.  These  identifications  are  possibly  correct,  and 
even  if  they  are  mistaken,  Vineland  may  still  have  been  somewhere 
upon  the  coast  of  what  is  now  the  United  States." 

As  these  stories  are  said  to  have  been  taken  from  Icelandic 
manuscripts  of  the  fourteenth  century,  without  any  substantial 
supporting  evidence  being  found  on  this  continent,  there  is  grave 
doubt  whether  the  sea-rovers  from  the  North  ever  made  any  pro- 
longed stay  on  Amei'ican  soil.  Therefore  it  is  claimed  that  Christ- 
opher Columbus  should  be  accorded  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
discoverer  of  America.  Columbus  made  his  first  voyage  of  discovery 
in  1492,  and  landed  on  the  island  he  named  San  Salvador  on  the 
12th  of  October  of  that  year.  Before  returning  to  Spain  he  dis- 
covered Cuba  and  Hayti  and  built  a  fort  on  the  latter  island.  In 
1493  he  made  a  second  voyage  from  Spain,  starting  out  from  Cadiz. 
This  expedition  was  not  completed  until  1496,  and  during  its  prog- 
ress he  discovered  the  Lesser  Antilles,  Porto  Rico,  and  Jamaica. 
In  a  third  voyage,  made  in  1498-1500,  he  found  Trinidad  and 
reached  the  mainland  of  South  America  at  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco 
River.  On  his  second  voyage  he  had  established  a  colony  in  Hayti 
and  appointed  his  brother  governor.  Upon  his  return  from  the 
South  American  coast  he  found  the  colony  in  Hayti  in  a  badly  dis- 
organized condition.  He  was  attempting  to  restore  order  when 
he  was  seized  by  Francisco  de  Bobadilla,  who  had  been  sent  from 
Spain  to  investigate  charges  of  maladministration  against  Columbus. 
The  great  navigator  was  put  in  chains  and  sent  back  to  Spain  but 
the  king  repudiated  the  act  of  Bobadilla,  set  Columbus  free,  and 
started  him  on  his  fourth  voyage  in  search  of  the  Indies.  This 
voyage  resulted  in  nothing  more  than  explorations  along  the  southern 
coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Disappointed  with  the  results  of  his 
last  undertaking,  he  returned  to  Spain  and  found  that  Queen 
Isabella,  his  great  friend  and  patron,  was  dead.  Friendless  and 
neglected,  he  died  May  20th,  1505,  and  became  famous  to  future 
generations.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  Columbus  never  placed  his 
feet  on  the  North  American  Continent.  He  died  without  knowing  that 
he  had  discovered  a  new  continent,  and  claimed  till  the  last  that  he 
had  reached  the  coast  of  India.  Columbus  had,  he  believed,  accom- 
plished the  chief  purpose  of  his  perilous  voyages,  that  is,  gained 
access  to  the  rich  treasures  of  the  Indies.     He  was  a  devout  Catholic 


and  Southwest  Virginia  75 

and  a  cordial  hater  of  the  Turk^  whom  he  wished  to  drive  from 
Europe  and  the  Holy  Land.  John  Fiske  in  his  very  interesting 
book^  "Old  Virginia  And  Her  Neighbors",  says: 

"The  relief  of  tlie  church  from  threatening  dangers  was  in  those 
days  the  noblest  and  most  sacred  function  of  wealth.  When  Colum- 
bus aimed  liis  prow  westward  from  the  Canaries,  in  quest  of  Asia, 
its  precious  stones,  its  silk  stuffs,  its  rich  shawls  and  rugs,  its  corals 
and  dye-woods,  its  aromatic  spices,  he  expected  to  acquire  vast 
wealth  for  the  sovereigns  who  employed  him  and  no  mean  fortune 
for  himself.  In  all  negotiations  he  insisted  upon  a  good  round  per- 
centage, and  could  no  more  be  induced  to  budge  from  his  price  than 
the  old  Roman  Sybyl  with  her  books.  Of  petty  self-seeking  and 
avarice  there  was  no  more  in  this  than  in  commercial  transactions 
generally.  The  wealth  thus  sought  by  Columbus  was  not  so  much 
an  end  as  a  means.  His  spirit  was  that  of  a  Crusader,  and  his  aim 
was  not  to  discover  a  New  World  (an  idea  which  seemed  never  to 
have  once  entered  his  head),  but  to  acquire  the  means  for  driving 
the  Turk  from  Europe  and  setting  free  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  Had 
he  been  told  upon  his  melancholy  death-bed  that  instead  of  finding 
a  quick  way  to  Cathay  he  had  only  discovered  a  New  World,  it 
would  probably  have  added  fresh  bitterness  to  his  death." 

At  the  time  Columbus  was  preparing  for  a  second  voyage  to  the 
New  World,  Amerigo  Vespucci,  a  native  of  Florence,  was  at  the 
head  of  a  Florentine  mercantile  firm  in  Seville.  He  was  a  naval 
astronomer  of  considerable  attainments;  and,  having  heard  of  the 
wonderful  discoveries  made  by  Columbus,  he  became  very  eager 
to  enter  the  field  of  discovery.  On  the  20th  of  May,  1499,  he  sailed 
with  an  exploring  expedition,  commanded  by  the  Spanish  Admiral 
Hojeda,  from  Cadiz.  This  expedition  first  landed  on  what  is  now 
the  Venezuelan  coast  of  South  America.  He  made  explorations  in 
the  Bay  of  Paria,  which  lies  between  the  Island  of  Trinidad  and 
the  mainland,  and  he  also  sailed  several  hundred  miles  along  the 
South  American  coast.  Admiral  Hojeda  returned  to  Spain  with 
his  squadron  in  the  early  autumn  of  the  same  year. 

Another  expedition  was  promptly  fitted  out,  and  Vespucci,  in 
December,  started  on  his  second  voyage.  This  time  his  only  accom- 
plishment was  the  discovery  of  groups  of  small  islands  on  the  south 
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  After  his  return  to  Spain  from  the  second 
voyage,   Emanuel,   King  of   Portugal,   persuaded  Vespucci   to   quit 


76  History  of  Tazewell  County 

the  service  of  Spain  and  enter  that  of  Portugal;  and  he  made  two 
voyages,  beginning  the  first  on  the  10th  of  May,  1501,  and  the 
second  on  the  10th  of  May,  1503.  The  chief  purpose  of  the  Floren- 
tine was  to  sail  westward  with  a  view  of  discovering  a  passage  t() 
Malaca,  which  was  then  the  extreme  point  on  the  Malay  coast  that 
had  been  reached  by  European  navigators.  His  fleet  for  the  last 
voyage  consisted  of  six  ships,  but  one  of  these  was  lost  in  a  storm. 
After  encountering  and  escaping  many  perils,  Vespucci  a*  last 
reached  safety  with  his  five  vessels  in  what  is  now  called  "All  Saints 
Bay"  on  the  coast  of  Brazil.  Then  it  was  that  the  Florentine 
realized  that  he  had  discovered  a  new  continent,  and  upon  his 
return  to  Europe  he  so  reported.  Columbus  having  made  the  mis- 
take of  claiming  to  have  reached  India  when  he  landed  on  the  South 
American  coast;  and  the  Cabots  having  announced  that  they  had 
reached  the  continent  of  Asia  on  their  several  voyages  to  the  coasts 
of  North  America,  it  was  reserved  for  Amerigo  Vespucci  to  first 
make  known  to  Europe  the  fact  tliat  the  continent  whicli  the  Norse- 
men, and  Columbus,  and  the  Cabots  had  repeatedly  visited  was  not 
a  part  of  Asia,  but  was  a  newly  discovered  and  distinct  continent. 
It  was,  therefore,  very  natural  that  when  Amerigo  published  a 
narrative  of  his  voyages  the  new  continent  should  be  given  his 
name,  America,  as  an  honor  justly  due  him.  There  has  been  much 
adverse  criticism  of  the  Florentine,  because  of  the  belief  that  he 
cunningly  appropriated  an  honor  that  belonged  of  right  to  Christ- 
opher Columbus.  It  was  also  charged  by  his  enemies  and  detractors 
that  he  was  a  man  of  inferior  ability,  with  very  limited  knowledge 
of  the  sciences  necessary  to  make  him  a  successful  navigator.  Baron 
Humboldt  and  other  distinguished  scientists,  who  made  investiga- 
tions, defended  him  against  these  aspersions;  and  assert  that  it  was 
his  excellent  knowledge  of  various  branches  of  science  that  caused  his 
selection  as  naval  astronomer  for  the  several  expeditions  he  con- 
ducted or  accompanied  across  the  Atlantic.  It  is  also  a  notable  fact 
that  Christopher  Columbus  and  Amerigo  Vespucci  were  intimate 
friends  after  they  had  each  made  voyages,  though  Columbus  dis- 
puted until  the  day  of  his  death  that  a  new  continent  had  been  dis- 
covered. 


The  discovery  of  America  not  only  created  intense  interest 
among  the  scientific  and  scholarly  men  of  the  Old  World,  but 
excited  in  the  countries  of  Western  Europe  an  unusual  spirit  of 


and  Southwest  Virginia  77 

enterprise  and  adventure.  This  was  especiall}'  manifest  in  Spain, 
occasioned,  no  doubt,  by  the  fact  that  the  discovery  had  been  accom- 
plished with  the  liberal  aid  and  patronage  of  Spanish  sovereigns. 
Within  the  space  of  ten  years  after  the  death  of  Columbus  the 
larger  islands  of  the  West  Indies  had  been  explored  and  Spanish 
colonies  established  upon  them.  The  first  continental  colony  planted 
by  the  Spaniards  was  on  the  Isthmus  of  Darien  in  1510,  and  three 
years  later  the  governor  of  that  colony,  Vasco  Nunez  De  Balboa, 
made  his  way  across  the  Isthmus  and  discovered  the  mighty  ocean 
that  covers  about  two-fifths  of  the  entire  surface  of  the  world. 

There  was  a  succession  of  explorations  and  colonizations  made 
by  other  Spaniards  in  ensuing  years.  Juan  Ponce  De  Leon  started 
out  from  Porto  Rico,  of  which  island  he  was  governor,  in  1512  in 
search  of  a  mythical  fountain  of  youth,  wliicli  was  believed  to  be 
located  somewhere  in  the  Bahamas.  Being  an  old  man,  he  was 
ambitious  to  be  made  young  again;  and  was  foolish  enough  to  have 
faith  in  the  fabulous  tales  he  had  heard  about  this  fountain  of  youth. 
Having  failed  to  find  the  fountain  in  the  Bahamas,  he  sailed  toward 
the  coast  of  Florida,  and  on  Easter  Sunday,  the  27th  of  March,  he 
looked  upon  an  unknown  beautiful  shore.  A  few  days  later  a  land- 
ing was  made  a  short  distance  north  of  where  the  city  of  St.  Augus- 
tine was  started  about  a  half  a  century  later.  Ponce  De  Leon  was 
so  charmed  with  the  many  beautiful  flowers  that  abound  in  that 
land,  he  named  the  country  Florida,  the  "Land  of  Flowers."  After- 
wards the  King  of  Spain  made  Ponce  De  Leon  governor  of  Florida ; 
but  he  did  not  return  to  the  new  province  until  the  year  1521.  Upon 
his  arrival  he  found  the  natives  in  a  very  hostile  mood.  Shortlv 
after  they  liad  landed  the  Spaniards  were  furiously  attacked  by 
the  Indians,  and  a  number  of  the  white  men  were  killed.  The 
remainder  fled  to  tlieir  ships,  taking  with  them  their  leader  who  had 
been  mortally  wounded  with  an  arrow.  Ponce  De  Leon  was  carried 
back  to  Cuba,  where  he  died  from  the  wound. 

In  the  year  1517  Fernandez  De  Cordova  discovered  Yucatan 
and  the  Bay  of  Campeachy.  His  company  was  attacked  by  the 
natives  and  he  received  a  mortal  wound.  The  following  year  Gri- 
jalva,  assisted  by  Cordova's  pilot,  made  extensive  explorations  of 
the  coast  of  Mexico;  and  in  1519  Hernando  Cortes  began  his  famous 
conquest  of  the  Aztec  empire. 

The  next  discovery  of  importance  was  made  by  Fernando  De 
Magellan,  the  famous  Portuguese  navigator.     He  had  petitioned  the 


78  History  of  Tazewell  County 

King  of  Portugal  in  vain  for  ships  to  make  a  voyage  in  search  of  a 
southwest  passage  to  Asia.  The  court  of  Portugal  gave  such  deep 
offense  to  Magellan  that  he  traveled  to  Spain^  accompanied  by  his 
countrymen^  Ruy  Falero,  who  was  an  excellent  geographer  and 
astronomer.  He  succeeded  in  interesting  Charles  V.,  King  of  Spain, 
in  his  plans  for  seeking  a  southwest  passage,  and  procured  ample 
assistance  from  that  monarch.  Magellan  sailed  in  September,  1517, 
with  five  ships  and  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  men.  Heading 
direct  for  the  South  American  coast,  he  arrived  safely  at  the  mouth 
of  the  La  Plata  River.  Thence  he  sailed  along  the  coast  of  Pata- 
gonia, passed  through  the  strait  which  has  since  borne  his  name, 
entered  the  southern  Pacific  Ocean,  giving  it  that  name  on  account 
of  the  beautiful  weather  which  prevailed  when  he  sailed  into  its 
waters.  He  then  started  out  to  complete  his  voyage  around  the 
world;  but  was  prevented  from  accomplishing  in  person  his  ardent 
desire  by  his  unfortunate  death,  which  occurred  on  one  of  the 
Philippine  Islands  in  a  fight  with  the  natives,  in  April,  1521.  A 
new  captain  took  charge  of  his  ship  and  carried  it  back  to  Spain  by 
way  of  the  Ca{)e  of  Good  Hope,  arriving  at  home  in  September, 
1522.     Thus  was  completed  the  first  voyage  around  the  world. 

In  the  year  1520  a  very  disgraceful  expedition  was  undertaken 
by  Lucas  Vasquez  De  Ayllon,  who  had  become  very  rich  as  a 
Spanish  judge  in  San  Domingo.  The  object  of  this  expedition  was 
to  kidnap  the  natives  from  the  Bahamas  to  be  used  as  slaves  by 
De  Ayllon  and  other  unscrupulous  planters  on  their  plantations  in 
San  Domingo.  De  Ayllon  sailed  with  two  vessels  for  his  proposed 
destination,  but  a  storm  drove  them  out  of  their  course  and  onto  the 
coast  of  South  Carolina.  The  ships  were  sailed  into  St.  Helena 
Sound,  and  their  anchors  lowered  at  the  mouth  of  the  Combahee 
River.  De  Ayllon  gave  the  name  Chicora  to  the  country,  and  called 
the  river  the  Jordan.  The  natives  were  exceedingly  timid  but  kind 
and  friendly  to  the  strange  visitors,  and  gave  them  presents  of  their 
simple  food,  and  rude  trinkets.  Their  curiosity  was  aroused,  and 
a  sufficient  number  to  crowd  the  ships  were  lured  on  board,  when  the 
brutal  commander  of  the  expedition  ordered  the  anchors  to  be 
weighed  and  started  on  the  return  voyage  with  his  slaves  to  San 
Domingo.  A  heavy  storm  was  encountered,  one  of  the  ships  found- 
ered, and  the  poor  creatures,  who  had  been  imprisoned  under  the 
hatches  of  the  ship,  were  rescued  by  death  from  the  horrible  fate 
that  awaited  them  as  slaves  in  San  Domingo.     This  was  the  first 


and  Southwest  Virginia  79 

effort  of  the  Spaniards  to  make  slaves  of  tlie  Indians.  The  dis, 
covery  of  Chicora  was  reported  to  Charles  V.,  King  of  Spain,  and 
he  appointed  De  Ayllon  governor  of  the  newly  discovered  country, 
granting  him  the  right  to  make  conquest  thereof.  De  Ayllon 
returned  with  a  small  fleet  to  his  province  in  1525,  but  his  best  ship 
was  grounded  in  the  Jordan  when  he  entered  that  river.  The 
Indians  recalled  the  cruel  outrages  they  had  suffered  on  the  previous 
visit  of  the  Spaniards,  their  timidity  was  replaced  with  desperate 
courage,  and  they  made  a  furious  attack  upon  the  occupants  of  the 
grounded  ship,  killing  a  number  of  the  invaders.  The  survivors 
were  glad  to  escape  with  their  lives,  and  hastily  started  back  to 
San  Domingo.  De  Ayllon  was  greatly  humiliated  by  the  failure  of 
his  expedition,  and  he  was  ruined  in  fortune  and  favor  with  the 
Spanish  Government. 

Pamphilo  de  Narvaez  was  appointed  governor  of  Florida  in  the 
year  1526  by  Charles  V.,  King  of  Spain,  with  the  privilege  of  con- 
quest, as  had  been  given  Cortes,  Pizarro  and  other  Spanish  adven- 
turers who  brought  expeditions  to  America.  A  very  extensive  terri- 
tory both  east  and  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  included  in  his  com- 
mission. He  went  to  Florida  with  three  hundred  soldiers,  of  whom 
forty  were  cavalrymen.  The  object  of  the  expedition  was  more  for 
hunting  gold  than  for  colonization.  In  some  way  the  natives  found 
out  the  motive  of  the  invaders,  and  practiced  a  shrewd  deception 
upon  them.  The  Indians  exhibited  small  gold  trinkets  and  pointed 
to  the  North.  This  greatly  excited  the  avaricious  Spaniards,  who 
inferred  that  the  natives  were  telling  them  that  there  were  rich  gold 
fields  and  large  cities  in  the  North,  like  those  Cortes  had  found  in 
Mexico,  and  Pizarro  in  Peru.  The  Spaniards  started  our  through  the 
dense  forests  in  search  of  the  great  wealth  they  believed  would  be 
found  in  the  North.  Instead  of  finding  cities  and  gold,  they  came  to 
impenetrable  swamps  and  encountered  small  bands  of  savages  who 
lived  in  squalid  villages  consisting  of  a  few  rude  huts.  After  many 
days  travel  in  what  is  now  Georgia  and  Alabama,  they  were  so 
fatigued  and  scant  of  food  that  they  determined  to  return  to  their 
ships  on  the  coast;  and  finally  arrived  at  St.  Marks  harbor.  But 
the  ships  they  expected  to  find  were  not  there.  Desperately  situated, 
the  remnant  of  the  band  built  some  small  boats,  which  they  entered, 
and  started  out  with  the  hope  of  reaching  a  Spanish  settlement  in 
Mexico.  Storms  came  upon  them,  they  were  driven  out  of  sight  of 
land  and  then  thrown  back  upon  the  coast.     Some  were  drowned, 


80  History  of  Tazewell  County 

others  were  killed  by  the  Indians,  and  some  were  starved  to  death. 
The  boat  in  which  Narvaez  was  traveling  was  sunk  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi  and  he  perished  there.     Only  four  of  the  entire 
expeditionary  force  succeeded  in  reaching  Mexico;  and  they  wan- 
dered across  the  continent  to  the  village  of  San  Miguel  on  the  Pacific 
Coast.     From  that  place  they  ultimately  found  their  way  to  Mexico. 
One   of  the  most  distinguished  Spanish   cavaliers   who   accom- 
panied Pizarro  to  i'eru  was  Ferdinand  Ue  Soto.     He  was  of  noble 
birth,  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Pizarro,  and  had  returned  from  Peru 
to  Spain  with  vast  wealth  he  had  gathered  in  the  land  of  the  Incas. 
His  great  popularity  in  Spain  made  it  easy  for  him  to  secure  an 
appointment  as   governor  both  of   Cuba  and  Florida,  with   ample 
authority  granted  for  making  conquest  of  the  Land  of  Flowers.     A 
very  large  number  of  wealthy  and  high-born  Spaniards  made  eager 
application  for  enlistment  under  De  Soto  to  accompany  him  on  his 
expedition  to  Florida.     From  the  numerous  applicants  he  carefully 
selected  six  hundred,  whom  he  considered  the  most  gallant  and  bc^ 
fitted  for  the  service  and  hardships  he  knew   would  have  to  be 
endured.     These  cavaliers  were  splendidly  equipped  with  the  finest 
suits  of  armor,  made  after  the  pattern  of  those  worn  by  knights  in 
the  days   of   chivalry.      Careful   preparations   were   made   to   have 
this  excel  in  splendor  all  other  expeditions  that  had  gone  from  Spain 
to  make  conquests  in  the  New  World.     Arms  in  abundance  and 
large  stores  of  supplies  of  the  first  quality  were  assembled;  trained 
artisans,  with  ample  tools  for  forges  and  work-shops  were  added; 
and  bloodhounds  to  chase  down  the  fleeing  natives  and  chains  to 
bind  them  when  made  captives  were  also  made  part  of  the  equip- 
ment.    A  herd  of  swine,  to  be  fattened  on  the  corn  of  the  natives 
and  the  acorns  and  nuts  that  grew  in  the  vast  forests  that  were  to 
be  explored,  was  also  provided.     Twelve  priests  of  the  Holy  Cath- 
olic Church  were  enlisted  to  look  after  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
gay  cavaliers,  and  to  make  converts  to  Christianity  of  the  heathen 
natives.     It  is  possible  these  priests  were  sent  by  the  Spanish  Inqui- 
sition, hence  the  trained  bloodliounds  to  chase  the  poor  Indians  and 
the  shackles  to  bind  them  with  when  made  captives. 

A  year  was  occupied  by  De  Soto  in  extensive  preparation  for  his 
wonderful  expedition  of  discovery  and  conquest.  In  the  sjjring  of 
1539  his  squadron  of  ten  vessels  sailed  from  the  harbor  of  San 
Lucar  with  his  eager  and  impatient  six  hundred  followers  aboard. 
It  required  but  a  few  weeks  to  make  the  voyage  to  Havana.     There 


and  Southwest  Virginia  81 

he  left  his  wife  in  charge  of  his  own  and  the  island's  affairs  until 
he  could  return  witli  greatly  added  wealth  and  glory  from  his  explo- 
ration of  Florida.     He  sailed  from  Havana  after  a  brief  staj^  there^ 
and  in  the  early  part  of  June  sailed  into  Tampa  Bay.     A  number 
of  Cubans  had  joined  the  expedition,  but  a  part  of  these  were  so 
terrified  by  the  awful  gloom  of  the  forests  and  swamps  they  saw  in 
Plorida  that  they  separated  from  De  Soto  and  returned  to  Cuba. 
De  Soto  and  his  intrepid  followers  made  but  little  delay  in  begin- 
ning what  proved  a  disastrous  march  into  the  interior  in  search  of 
the  mystic  El  Dorado  they  confidently  hoped  to  reach.     The  months 
of  July,  August  and  September  were  fully  occupied  with  an  ener- 
getic march  toward  the  North.     The  explorers  struggled  through 
almost  impenetrable  swamps,  swam  rivers  and  had  frequent  encoun- 
ters with  the  Indians,  whom  De  Soto  found  were  much  bolder  and 
more  effective  fighters  than  the  aborigines  he  had  helped  to  conquer 
in   Peru.     In  the  month  of  October   they   reached  Flint  River  in 
Georgia,  and  there  came  in  contact  with  the  Appalachian  Indians, 
with  whose  several  tribes  they  were  to  have  many  experiences  in 
the  future.     De  Soto  concluded  to  winter  there;  and,  having  done 
this,  in  the  early  spring  of  1540  the  march  was  resumed  and  was 
turned  into  an  almost  senseless  wandering  over  the  territory  now 
constituting  the  States  of  South  Carolina,  North  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Tennessee,  east  of  the  Mississippi  River; 
and  Missouri,  Arkansas  and  Oklahoma  on  the  west  of  the  river. 
In  the  spring  of  15il  the  Indian  guides  brought  the  Spaniards  to 
the  Mississippi;  and  the  great  "Father  of  Waters"  was  revealed 
for  the  first  time  to  white  men,  as  De  Soto  and  his  followers  gazed 
upon  it.     In  the  latter  part  of  May  the  Spaniards  crossed  the  Mis- 
sissippi.    They  began  their  roving  journey  over  the  territory  west 
of  the  river  and  did  not  return  to  its  western  banks  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Natchez  until  1542.     The  spirit  of  the  ambitious  leader  was 
completely  crushed.    He  was  stricken  with  a  malignant  fever  which 
soon  caused  his  death,  and  he  was  buried  in  the  great  river  which 
has  ever  since  been  historically  and  dramatically  associated  with  tlie 
name  of  De  Soto. 

Previous  to  his  death,  De  Soto  had  selected  as  his  successor 
Moscoso,  one  of  his  most  trusted  lieutenants.  Under  his  leadership 
the  depleted  band  of  ragged  and  starving  adventurers  resumed  their 
j  ourney  in  search  of  the  riches  for  which  they  had  already  expended 
two  years  of  fruitless  endeavor.  They  wandered  back  in  a  west- 
wardly  course  until  they  came  to  the  upper  waters  of  Red  River  on 
T.H.-6 


82  History  of  Tazewell  County 

the  northern  borders  of  Texas.  Then  they  turned  northward  and 
wandered  through  the  territory  occupied  by  the  Pawnee  and 
Comanche  tribes  of  Indians,  still  hunting  for  gold.  At  last  they 
came  to  such  rugged  and  barren  mountains,  and  were  so  discouraged 
that  they  turned  back  and  again  came  to  the  Mississippi  River,  a 
short  distance  above  the  mouth  of  Red  River.  Overcome  with 
despair,  the  remnant  of  De  Soto's  gay  band  of  cavaliers  decided  to 
build  boats  and  travel  down  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf,  and  then 
try  to  reacli  a  Spanish  settlement  in  Mexico.  In  pursuance  of  this 
resolution,  they  cut  trees  from  the  forests,  and  sawed  them  into 
lumber,  built  forges  and  turned  all  the  iron  and  steel  they  had, 
including  the  fetters  of  the  captive  natives,  into  nails  and  other 
iron  pieces  necessary  for  the  construction  of  their  boats.  In  this 
way  they  succeeded  in  making  seven  brigantines  and  on  the  2nd 
day  of  July,  1543,  they  began  their  voyage  down  the  river.  Seven- 
teen days  were  necessary  to  reach  the  Gulf.  They  then  headed  their 
boats  westward,  and  in  fifty-five  days  after  entering  the  Gulf  they 
came  to  the  Spanish  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the  River  of  Palms. 


More  than  twenty  years  passed  away  after  the  disastrous  De 
Soto  expedition  before  Spain  made  another  attempt  to  plant  a  colony 
in  Florida.  In  1565  an  enterprise  for  that  purpose  was  entrusted 
to  Pedro  Menendez  de  Aviles,  a  soldier  of  notorious  criminal  char- 
acter and  vicious  disposition.  At  that  time  Philip  II.  was  King  of 
Spain,  having  succeeded  his  father.  Emperor  Charles  V.  Philip  had 
adopted  his  father's  policies  for  the  government  of  his  kingdom  and 
empire,  the  chief  of  which  policies  were  the  maintenance  and  exten- 
sion of  absolute  rule  throughout  his  dominions  and  a  zealous  support 
and  propagation  of  the  Catholic  religion.  Like  his  father,  he  was 
an  ambitious  despot  and  fanatical  supporter  of  the  Spanish  Inquisi- 
tion. He  hated  the  Protestants  and  was  anxious  to  destroy  a  colony 
of  French  Huguenots  who  made  a  settlement  in  Florida  on  the  St. 
Johns  River,  about  thirty-five  miles  above  its  mouth.  This  settle- 
ment was  within  the  limits  of  the  territory  claimed  by  Spain.  In 
fact,  Spain  asserted  title  to  all  of  North  America,  by  virtue  of  a 
bull  issued  by  the  Pope  of  Rome,  who  assumed  to  exercise  temporal 
as  well  as  spiritual  power  over  the  entire  world.  Philip  was  deter- 
mined to  apply  not  only  his  principle  of  absolutism  to  his  American 
dominions,  but  to  enforce  the  decrees  of  the  Inquisition  here  as  well 
as  in  Spain.  Hence  the  selection  of  the  brutal  fanatic  Menendez, 
who  was   given   a   commission   to   explore   and  make   conquest   of 


and  Southwest  Virginia  83 

Florida  and  establish  a  colony  there.  In  compensation  for  his  base 
performances,  !Menendez  was  to  receive  an  annual  salary  of  two 
thousand  dollars  and  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  square  miles  of 
land  to  be  located  in  proximity  to  the  colony.  The  spirit  of  adven- 
ture and  the  hunger  for  gold  were  still  rampant  in  Spain,  and  with 
very  little  trouble  Menendez  assembled  twenty-five  hundred  persons, 
many  of  wJiom  were  married  men  with  families,  that  were  eager  to 
accompany  the  expedition.  He  started  out  from  Spain  with  hiy 
large  fleet  in  July,  1565,  reached  Porto  Rico  early  in  the  month  of 
August,  and  on  the  28th  day  of  the  same  month  arrived  on  the 
Florida  coast.  It  was  St.  Augustine's  day  when  the  coast  came  in 
view,  but  a  landing  was  not  effected  until  tlie  2nd  of  September. 
When  a  location  for  the  colony  had  been  selected,  the  Spanish  leader 
named  it  St.  Augustine,  in  honor  of  the  Saint  of  that  name.  This 
was  the  first  permanent  settlement  made  by  people  of  the  white  race 
within  the  present  bounds  of  the  United  States.  It  was  destined  to 
become  one  of  the  most  historic  spots  in  our  land.  Subsequent  to 
its  founding,  the  place  was  the  scene  of  many  tragic  events.  The 
French  and  hostile  Indians  repeatedly  attacked  it;  in  1586  it  was 
captured  and  pillaged  by  England's  most  renowned  sea-rover.  Sir 
Francis  Drake,  and  by  pirates  in  1665.  Frequent  assaults  were 
also  made  by  the  English  and  Huguenot  colonists  of  the  Carolinas. 
Great  Britain  acquired  St.  Augustine  under  a  treaty  with  Spain 
in  1763,  and  made  use  of  it  as  an  important  military  station  during 
the  Revolutionary  War.  It  was  afterwards  possessed  by  Spain,  and 
in  1819  was  ceded  to  the  United  States. 

With  but  little  delay  after  making  a  landing  and  starting  his 
colony,  Menendez  began  to  execute  his  plans  for  the  destruction  of 
the  French  heretics.  The  Huguenots  thought  the  Spaniards  would 
bring  their  vessels  up  the  St.  Johns  and  make  an  attack;  and  com- 
mitted the  serious  mistake  of  sending  their  few  ships  and  nearly 
all  their  men  down  the  river  to  anticipate  the  enemy  by  making  an 
attack  upon  them.  After  the  French  got  their  ships  out  on  the  sea 
a  very  heavy  storm  burst  upon  them;  their  ships  were  driven  on 
the  coast,  and  all  but  two  of  the  vessels  were  dashed  to  pieces. 
Most  of  the  men,  however,  reached  the  shore  in  safety.  Menendez, 
having  found  out  the  unprotected  condition  of  the  Protestant  colony, 
gathered  his  forces  together,  and  made  a  secret  and  rapid  march 
through  the  swamps,  fell  upon  the  surprised  and  helpless  colony 
and  slaughtered  men,  women  and  children  without  mercy.  About 
two  hundred  persons  were  slain  by  the  Spanish  butchers,  only  a 


84  History  of  Tazewell  County 

few  members  of  the  colony  escaping,  among  these  their  leader, 
Laudonniere.  Then  Menendez  turned  his  attention  to  the  men  who 
had  escaped  when  their  vessels  were  wrecked.  They  were  induced 
to  surrender  to  the  Spaniards,  with  assurance  that  they  would  be 
humanely  treated  and  their  lives  protected.  Immediately  after 
their  surrender,  each  captive  had  his  hands  bound  behind  him  and 
two  prisoners  were  then  tied  together.  They  were  then  marched 
toward  St.  Augustine;  and  as  they  approached  the  Spanish  fort  a 
trumpet  was  sounded.  This  was  a  signal  for  their  slaughter;  and 
tlie  seven  hundred  unhappy  prisoners  were  killed  by  the  cut-throat 
minions  of  Menendez.  With  this  terrible  tragedy  and  the  permanent 
establishment  of  the  colony  at  St.  Augustine,  the  period  of  Spanisli 
voyage  and  discovery  as  to  the  North  American  Continent  seems  to 
have  been  terminated.  Spain  does  not  now  own  or  exercise  control 
over  a  foot  of  land  in  either  of  the  Americas.  This  looks  like 
retributive  justice  visited  upon  the  Spanish  Nation  for  the  bar- 
barous cruelties  practiced  upon  the  aboriginal  inliabitants  and  the 
Protestants  who  came  from  France  and  other  countries  of  Europe 
that  they  might  enjoy  religious  freedom  in  the  New  World. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  85 


CHAPTER  II. 

FRENCH    DISCOVERIES    AND    SETTLEMENTS. 

The  discoveries  made  by  Columbus  and  other  navigators  aroused 
great  interest  in  France.  John  Cabot's  discovery  of  Newfoundland 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  fisliermen  of  Normandy  and  Brittany. 
They  had  heard  of  the  wonderful  rishing  lianks  found  about  the 
shores  of  Newfoundland,  where  the  schools  of  cod  and  other  vari- 
ties  of  fishes  were  so  great  that  it  was  difficult  to  steer  a  ship 
through  them;  and  in  1540  these  fishermen  began  to  sail  across  the 
ocean  to  try  the  fishing  grovmds  that  are  still  famous.  An  adven- 
turous Frenchman  by  the  name  of  Denys  made  a  map  of  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence  in  the  year  1506^  a  hundred  years  before  the  English 
settlement  was  made  at  Jamestown. 

In  1518  Francis  I.,  King  of  France,  became  interested  in  the 
colonization  of  the  New  World;  and  six  years  later,  in  152'i.  a 
voyage  of  discovery  was  started  out  with  John  Verrazzano,  a  native 
of  Florence,  in  command.  The  object  of  this  expedition  was  to 
search  for  a  northwest  passage  to  Asia.  Verrazzano  began  his 
voyage  in  January,  1524,  with  a  fleet  of  four  vessels.  Three  of  the 
ships  were  so  badly  damaged  in  a  storm  that  they  were  compelled  to 
return  to  France,  but  the  determined  navigator  continued  the  voyage 
in  his  remaining  vessel,  the  Doljjhin.  After  a  very  rough  and  dan- 
gerous voyage  of  fifty  days'  duration,  on  the  7th  of  March  the 
mariner  came  in  sight  of  land  near  Wilmington,  North  Carolina. 
He  changed  his  course  south  and  hunted  for  a  good  harbor.  Finding 
none,  he  returned  northward  and  anchored  for  a  few  days  at  a  point 
between  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear  River  and  Pamlico  Sound.  Verraz- 
zano and  his  crew  went  on  shore  and  met  some  of  tlie  native  inhabi- 
tants, who  were  found  to  be  of  a  kind  and  peaceable  disposition. 
After  a  few  days'  stay  at  that  place,  he  again  sailed  northward, 
exploring  the  coast,  and  entered  the  hai-bor  of  New  York.  Thence 
he  sailed  to  the  present  port  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  and  made 
a  stay  of  fifteen  days,  viewing  and  outlining  the  coast  thereabout. 
Leaving  Newport,  he  continued  his  course  along  and  up  the  coast 
of  New  England,  passed  to  the  east  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  arrived 
at  Newfoundland  in  the  latter  part  of  ^Sla}'.  In  July  he  returned 
to  France  and  upon  his  arrival  at  home  published  an  account  of  his 
discoveries  which  caused  much  excitement  among  his  countrymen. 


86  History  of  Tazewell  County 

The  entire  country  whose  seacoast  he  had  explored  and  mapped  was 
claimed  by  right  of  discovery  to  belong  to  France. 

On  account  of  the  distracted  condition  of  the  country,  not  until 
ten  years  after  the  Verrazzano  expedition  did  any  French  explorers 
again  visit  America.  In  1534  Chabot,  Admiral  of  France,  succeeded 
in  awakening  the  interest  of  Francis  I.  in  a  sclieme  for  exploring 
and  colonizing  the  New  World.  James  Cartier,  a  trained  mariner 
of  St.  Malo,  in  Brittany,  was  selected  to  conduct  the  expedition. 
With  two  ships  he  left  the  harbor  of  St.  Malo  in  April,  and  reached 
the  shores  of  Newfoundland  in  May.  Without  delay  he  sailed 
around  the  island,  crossed  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  and  anchored 
in  a  bay,  which  he  called  Bay  of  Chaleurs.  Failing  to  find  the 
westward  passage,  that  all  the  voyagers  had  sought  without  avail, 
he  then  sailed  along  the  coast  as  far  as  the  inlet  of  Gaspe;  and 
there,  upon  a  point  of  land,  raised  a  cross  with  a  shield  and  the 
lilies  of  France  thereon.  This  was  to  notify  other  nations  that  tlie 
discoverer  had  taken  possession  of  the  country  for  France.  In 
August,  Cartier  left  the  Bay  of  Gaspe  and  discovered  the  St.  Law- 
rence River.  On  the  ninth  of  August  he  started  back  to  France  and 
arrived  safely  at  St.  Malo.  The  report  of  his  discoveries  made 
him  popular  and  famous  in  liis  country. 

Friends  of  Cartier  urged  the  king  to  give  the  discoverer  another 
commission  and  provide  liim  with  ships  to  make  a  second  voyage. 
A  new  commission  was  given  him,  and  three  ships  were  furnished 
by  the  king.  A  number  of  the  young  nobles  became  volunteers  to 
accompany  Cartier  on  this  voyage.  The  company  sailed  for  the 
New  World  in  May,  1535,  and  after  a  difficult  and  stormy  voyage 
arrived  on  the  coast.  The  gulf  Cartier  had  discovered  on  his  first 
voyage  was  given  the  name  of  St.  Lawrence,  in  honor  of  the  Saint 
of  that  name.  Afterwards  the  same  name  was  given  to  the  great 
river  which  is  by  far  the  largest  bod}'  of  fresh  water  in  the  world. 
The  St.  Lawrence  River,  under  the  name  of  St.  Louis,  has  its 
source  in  the  same  extensive  plateau  which  starts  the  Father  of 
Waters  on  its  lengthy  journey  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Red 
River  of  the  North  towards  Hudson  Bay.  It  is  2,200  miles  from 
its  source  to  where  the  river  enters  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  The 
St.  Louis  River  flows  into  Lake  Superior  and  goes  on  tlirough  a 
succession  of  lakes-— Lake  Huron,  Lake  Erie  and  Lake  Ontario — 
until  its  mighty  volume  pours  out  of  Ontario  and  becomes  tlie  won- 
derful St.  Lawrence  River.     It  is  four  hundred  miles  from  where 


and  Southwest  Virginia  87 

the  St.  Lawrence  issues  from  Lake  Ontario  to  the  splendid  gulf  that 
bears  the  same  name. 

After  entering  the  river  Cartier  sailed  up  stream  to  an  island, 
afterwards  called  Orleans.  There  he  came  in  contact  with  a  tribe 
of  Indians  of  the  Algonquian  family.  From  these  natives  he 
received  the  information  that  farther  up  the  river  there  was  an 
Indian  town  on  the  Island  of  Hochelaga.  This  excited  his  curiosity, 
he  sailed  up  the  river  in  a  small  boat,  and  found  a  beautiful  native 
village  nestling  at  the  foot  of  a  hill.  He  climbed  the  hill,  and  the 
view  from  its  summit  was  so  magnificent  that  he  immediately  called 
the  place  Mont-Real.  Upon  this  site  the  splendid  city  of  Montreal 
now  stands.  Returning  to  his  ships,  Cartier  and  his  men  passed 
an  unpleasant  winter  where  they  were  anchored.  In  the  spring  a 
cross  was  put  up  on  a  point  of  land,  bearing  the  emblem  and  the 
arms  of  France,  and  with  an  inscription  declaring  that  the  country 
was  a  possession  of  Francis  I.  The  name  of  New  France  was  given 
to  the  country.  Cartier  then  sailed  for  home,  and  on  the  6th  of 
July  arrived  at  St.  Malo.  His  report  of  the  character  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  regions,  the  very  cold  climate  and  failure  to  find  any  indi- 
cations of  silver  and  gold,  discouraged  the  people  of  France  from 
further  earlj^  attempts  to  plant  a  colony  there. 

After  a  lapse  of  four  years,  under  the  title  of  viceroy  and  lieu- 
tenant general  of  New  France,  in  1540,  Francis  de  la  Roque,  Lord 
of  Roberval,  was  commissioned  by  the  King  of  France  to  establish 
a  colony,  ivith  regal  authority  in  land,  territories,  and  islands  that 
were  bordering  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  He  selected  Cartier,  who  was 
familiar  with  the  country,  to  take  charge  of  the  expedition  as  captain 
general  and  chief  pilot.  Cartier  started  out  from  St.  Malo  in  the 
spring  of  1511;  he  made  a  safe  voyage  to  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
built  a  fort  near  the  site  of  Quebec.  There  the  colonists  remained 
through  the  winter,  and  nothing  of  moment  having  been  accom- 
plished, Cartier  with  his  sliips  and  men  returned  to  France.  About 
the  time  of  his  departure,  Roberval  arrived  upon  the  scene  with  a 
number  of  colonists.  He  did  nothing  more  than  to  verify  the  reports 
of  former  discoverers,  and  returned  to  France. 

The  repeated  unsuccessful  attempts  to  found  colonies  on  the 
St.  Lawrence  so  discouraged  the  French  Government  that  a  period 
of  fifty  years  elapsed  from  the  failure  of  Roberval  before  another 
effort  of  importance  was  made  by  the  French  to  plant  a  colony  in 
America.  There  were,  however,  several  private  enterprises  that 
tried    to    make    settlements    in    Florida    and    Carolina.      The   most 


88  History  of  Tazewell  County 

notable  of  these  was  conceived  by  Admiral  Coligny,  the  Protestant 
admiral  of  France.  He  resolved  to  do  something  for  the  persecuted 
Huguenots  of  his  country.  In  1562  he  secured  from  his  sovereign, 
Charles  IX.,  the  privilege  of  planting  a  Protestant  colony  in 
America.  He  selected  John  Ribault,  a  practical  seaman,  to  take 
charge  of  the  Huguenot  expedition.  It  started  from  France  in 
February  and  first  touched  on  the  Florida  coast,  and  entered  the  St. 
Johns  River.  Thence  the  ships  were  sailed  up  the  coast  until  they 
arrived  at  Port  Royal  on  the  Carolina  coast.  It  was  determined  to 
make  a  settlement  there,  the  colonists  were  landed  on  the  island  and 
a  fort  was  erected.  In  honor  of  Charles  IX.  the  place  was  called 
Carolina.  A  century  afterward  the  English  adopted  the  name  and 
gave  it  to  all  the  country  which  lies  between  the  Savannah  River 
and  the  southern  boundary  of  Virginia.  Ribault  returned  to  France 
for  more  supplies  and  colonists,  leaving  twenty-six  men  in  the  fort 
as  a  garrison.  He  failed  to  return  with  reinforcements  and  supplies, 
and  in  the  spring  the  dissatisfied  men  of  the  garrison  united  and 
killed  their  captain,  who  was  trying  to  hold  them  at  the  post.  The 
mutineers  constructed  a  rough  boat  they  thought  would  prove  sea- 
worthy and  made  a  desperate  attempt  to  cross  the  ocean  with  the 
hope  of  getting  back  to  France.  They  were  tossed  about  on  the 
sea  for  many  weeks,  and  when  nearly  dead  from  starvation  were 
rescued  by  an  English  ship  and  taken  to  the  coast  of  France. 

Two  years  later  Coligny,  who  was  still  hopeful  of  establishing 
a  Protestant  colony  in  America,  started  out  another  expedition  in 
charge  of  Laudonniere.  The  colonists  located  on  the  banks  of  the 
St.  John's  River  in  Florida,  fifteen  miles  west  of  St.  Augustine. 
This  colony  was  afterwards  brutally  destroyed  by  Menendez,  the 
Spaniard,  as  has  been  related  in  a  previous  chapter. 

Again,  in  1598,  the  government  of  France  decided  to  assert  its 
claims  of  discovery  by  colonization.  The  Marquis  of  La  Roche, 
luider  a  commission  from  the  king,  undertook  to  locate  a  colony  on 
Sable  Island,  Nova  Scotia.  The  site  was  most  unfavorable  and  the 
colonists  were  chiefly  criminals,  who  liad  been  turned  out  of  prisons 
upon  promise  of  enduring  the  hardships  of  a  settlement  in  North- 
eastern America.  After  establishing  the  settlement.  La  Roche 
returned  to  France  to  get  additional  supplies  and  more  emigrants, 
but  he  died  shortly  after  arriving  home.  He  had  left  about  forty 
criminals  at  the  settlement  on  Sable  Island.  They  suffered  frightful 
hardships  on  the  gloomy  island  for  seven  years,  but  were  at  last 
rescued  by  some  passing  ships  and  conveyed  to  France. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  89 

The  time  it  seems  had  arrived  when  France  was  to  plant  a  suc- 
cessful and  permanent  colony  in  the  northeastern  section  of  America. 
In  the  year  1603  the  King  of  France  gave  a  commission  to  De 
Monts  which  granted  him  sovereign  control  of  that  part  of  the 
continent  which  lies  between  the  latitude  of  Philadelphia  and  one 
degree  north  of  Montreal.  In  the  spring  of  1604  he  came  to 
America  with  a  number  of  colonists  to  take  possession  of  the  magnifi- 
cent domain  that  had  been  given  him  by  his  generous  monarch. 
He  reached  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  the  captain  of  one  of  his 
ships,  whose  name  was  Poutrincourt,  was  so  delighted  with  a  harbor 
he  discovered  on  the  west  coast  that  he  requested  the  privilege  of 
locating  there  with  his  family.  His  request  was  granted  and  he  was 
given  the  harbor  and  many  acres  of  land  adjacent  thereto.  De 
Monts,  with  the  remainder  of  the  colony,  crossed  the  Bay  of  Fundy, 
and  built  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix  River.  In  the  spring 
of  1605  De  Monts  and  his  colony  returned  to  the  harbor  where 
Poutrincourt  had  located.  At  that  place,  on  the  14th  of  November, 
1605,  the  first  permanent  French  settlement  on  American  soil  was 
established.  The  fort  and  harbor  were  named  Port  Royal  and  the 
country  was  called  Acadia.     They  are  now  called  Annapolis. 

In  160.3,  two  years  before  the  settlement  was  made  at  Port 
Royal  by  De  Monts,  the  most  noted  and  successful  of  all  the  French 
explorers,  Samuel  Champlain,  made  a  voyage  of  exploration  to  the 
St.  Lawrence  country.  He  was  the  son  of  a  sea  captain,  was  a 
trained  soldier,  and  had  on  one  occasion  accompanied  a  Spanish 
expedition  to  the  West  Indies.  A  company  of  Rouen  merchants  had 
become  imjDressed  with  the  idea  that  great  wealth  could  be  won  from 
the  fur  trade  of  the  St.  Lawrence  regions ;  and  they  employed 
Champlain  to  go  to  that  country  and  establish  a  trading-post  for 
them.  He  made  the  trip  and  chose  as  a  site  for  the  post  and  fort 
the  locality  where  the  great  city  of  Quebec  was  afterwards  built. 
Champlain  returned  to  France  in  the  autumn  of  1603,  made  report 
to  his  employers,  and  his  choice  for  the  site  of  the  trading-post  was 
accepted.  He  made  a  second  trip  to  the  St.  Lawrence  for  the  mer- 
chants in  1608,  and  in  July  of  that  year  laid  the  foundation  for  the 
city  of  Quebec.  The  next  year  he  explored  the  great  lake  which 
bears  his  name  and  that  will  make  him  famous  as  long  as  civilization 
stands.  Later  on  the  intrepid  explorer  began  to  investigate  the 
entire  lake  regions  of  the  North  and  even  extended  his  travels  into 
the  great  unkuown  West.    He  died  at  Quebec  in  1635. 


90  History  of  Tazewell  County 


ENGLISH   DISCOVERIES   AND   SETTLEMENTS. 

The    discovery    of    the    New    World   by    Columbus    excited    as 
intense    interest    in    England    as    it    had    provoked    in    Continental 
Europe.    A  Venetian  by  the  name  of  John  Cabot  was  then  residing 
in  Bristol.     He  was  an  accomplished  navigator  and  was  seized  with 
a  desire  to  make  a  \-oyage  to  the  newly  discovered  continent.     On 
the  5th  of  March,  1496,  he  was  commissioned  by  Henry  VII.,  King 
of  England,  to  make  explorations  in  the  Atlantic  and  Indian  Oceans 
under  the  English  flag.     The  commission  empowered  Cabot  and  his 
three   sons,   or   either  of  them,   to   sail   east,   west   or   north,   with 
authority  to  take  possession,  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  England, 
of  all  continents  or  islands  he,  or  they,  might  discover.     John  Cabot 
had  been  a  sailor  from  his  boyhood,  and  was  a  man  of  adventurous 
disposition  and  daring  spirit.     In  May,  1497,  with  a  fleet  of  five 
vessels,   he   sailed   from   Bristol   on   a   voyage   of   discovery   in  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  accompanied  by  his  three  sons,  Ludivico,  Sebastiano, 
and  Sanzio.     On  the  24th  of  June  he  came  in  sight  of  the  mainland 
of  the  North  American  Continent  at  a  point  somewhere  on  the  coast 
of  Labrador.     It  was  on  St.  John's  Day  when  he  sighted  land,  and 
was  thirteen  months  and  one  week  previous  to  the  day  on  which 
Columbus  first  discovered  the  mainland  of  the  American  Continent 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco  River,  South  America.     This  is  why 
many  writers  have  insisted  that  John  Cabot  was  the  first  discoverer 
of  the  American  Continent.     Cabot,  however,  was  as  much  in  error 
as  to  the  character  of  his  discovery  as  was  the  illustrious  Genoese 
navigator.     Columbus  thought  he  had  certainly  reached  India  when 
he  landed  on  the  eastern  shores  of  America,  and  that  by  traveling 
a  westerly  overland  course  the  Ganges  could  be  reached.      Cabot 
believed  the  land  he  discovered  was  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Asiatic 
Continent  and  was  a  part  of  the  dominion  of  the  Cham  of  Tartary. 
He  explored  the  shore  lines   for  several  hundred  miles.      Finding 
no  people  inhabiting  the  land  when  he  went  on  shore,  he  raised  the 
English   flag  and  took  possession  of  the  country  in  the  name  of 
Henry  VII.,  King  of  England.     After  making  such  investigations 
as  he  thought  necessary  to  determine  the  character  and  extent  of  the 
country,  Cabot  sailed  for  England,  and  arrived  at  Bristol,  after  a 
voyage  that  covered  a  little  more  than  three  months.     The  people 
of  Bristol  received  him  with  joyous  acclaim,  and  Henry  VII.  not 
only  made  him  a  very  liberal  donation  of  money,  but  urged  the  suc- 
cessful navigator  to  make  a  second  voyage.     Subsequently,  another 


and  Southwest  Virginia  91 

fleet  was  provided  and  a  new  commission^  with  far  more  liberal 
provisions,  was  given  liim,  but,  for  some  reason  that  has  not  been 
explained,  Jolm  Cabot  never  made  a  second  voyage.  He  disap- 
peared from  public  notice;  and  wliere  and  when  he  died  history  does 
not  record. 

In  jNIay,  14<98,  tlie  same  month  in  which  Columbus  stai'ted  on  his 
third  voyage  to  discover  the  mainland  of  America,  Sebastian  Cabot, 
second  son  of  John,  sailed  from  Bristol  with  two  ships  on  another 
exploring  expedition.  His  company  was  composed  largely  of  young 
English  volunteers,  the  expense  of  the  expedition  being  borne  chiefly 
by  young  Cabot;  and  his  object  was  to  discover  a  nortiiwest  passage 
to  Cathay  and  Japan.  Tlie  voyage  was  uneventful  until  he  arrived 
west  of  Greenland,  in  July,  wliere  icebergs  were  so  thick  and  dan- 
gerous that  the  bold  navigator  was  forced  to  change  his  course. 
He  tirst  went  ashore  at  a  point  near  where  his  father  had  landed 
the  year  previous.  From  that  place  he  directed  his  course  south- 
ward and  crossed  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  In  succession  the  coast 
lines  of  New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia,  and  Maine  were  explored; 
and  he  then  sailed  along  the  Atlantic  coast  from  Maine  to  a  point 
as  far  south  as  Cape  Hatteras.  All  the  country  which  bordered  on 
the  Atlantic  coast  as  far  as  Cabot  navigated  was  formally  claimed 
by  him  for  the  Crown  of  England.  For  some  reason  the  discoveries 
of  the  Cabots  were  not  utilized  by  Henry  VII.  It  has  been  sug^ 
gested  by  a  few  historians  that  the  repeated  failures  to  discover 
a  passage  to  the  Indies  and  inability  to  iind  gold  and  other  precious 
metals,  in  part,  made  the  English  Government  lose  interest  in  the 
New  World.  Others  have  accounted  for  the  strange  neglect  by 
citing  the  fact  that  Henry  VII.  was  a  devout  Catholic  and  was 
luiwilling  to  contravene  the  wishes  and  decrees  of  the  Pope  of  Rome. 
At  that  time  all  the  Catholic  monarchs  of  Europe  accorded  the  Pope 
as  full  power  and  authority  in  temporal  matters  as  they  did  in 
spiritual  affairs.  The  Pope,  who  was  especially  favorable  to  Spain, 
because  it  was  the  most  zealous  fi'iend  of  the  Church  of  all  the 
Catholic  countries,  had  published  a  bull  which  gave  Spain  first  and 
complete  title  to  all  of  North  America,  and  practically  all  of  South 
America.  No  matter  what  was  the  cause,  the  King  of  England 
withdrew  his  attention  from  America  and  made  no  further  effort  to 
assert  title  to  any  part  of  the  New  World  by  right  of  discovery.  At 
his  death  he  was  succeeded  as  monarch  by  his  son,  Henry  VIII., 
and  one  of  the  earliest  acts  of  the  young  king  was  to  surrender  to 
his  father-in-law,  the  King  of  Spain,  the  services  of  Sebastian  Cabot. 


92  History  of  Tazewell  County 

During  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  there  were  sundry  attempts 
made  by  English  mariners  to  discover  the  mythical  northwestern 
passage  to  Asia.  When  the  strangely  constituted  English  monarcli 
repudiated  his  Spanish  wife^  Catharine  of  Aragon,  and  abandoned 
the  Roman  Church,  he  entered  his  country  as  a  vigorous  rival  of 
Spain  for  control  of  the  New  World.  Then  came  the  incipient  move- 
ment to  crown  England  "Mistress  of  the  Seas"  and  make  her 
supreme  in  the  commerce  of  the  world. 

Upon  the  accession  of  Edward  VI.  to  the  throne  of  liis  father, 
Henry  VIII.,  there  was  an  added  impulse  to  the  maritime  spirit  of 
England,  and  that  spirit  was  more  thoroughlj'  aroused  by  the  recall 
from  Spain  of  the  venerable  navigator,  Sebastian  Cabot.  For  "good 
service  done  and  to  be  done"  he  was  made  grand  pilot.  But  Cabot 
seems  to  have  lost  interest  in  the  Western  Hemisphere  and  directed 
his  energies  to  establishing  trade  relations  with  China  and  with  the 
theretofore  unknown  countr}-  of  the  Muscovites.  It  was  an  English 
ship  that  entered  the  icy  harbor  of  Archangel  in  1553  and  disclosed 
Russia  to  Southern  and  Western  Europe.  Though  Sebastian  Cabot 
did  so  much  for  England  as  a  discoverer,  and  continued  her  faithful 
servant  until  he  reached  an  extremely  old  age,  like  that  of  his 
father,  his  death  was  obscure;  and  his  burial  place  is  not  only 
unmarked,  but,  to  the  shame  of  tlie  country  he  served  so  well,  is 
actually  unknown. 

After  the  death  of  Edward  VI.  his  half-sister,  known  in  history 
as  "Bloody  Mary",  became  Queen  of  England.  In  1551-  she  married 
Philip,  son  of  Charles  V.,  heir  to  the  Spanish  throne,  much  against 
the  will  of  her  ministers  and  the  Protestant  element  of  the  Nation. 
Queen  Mary  was  the  daughter  of  Catharine  of  Aragon,  a  devout 
Catholic  and  fierce  supporter  of  the  Papacy;  and  an  intolerant  foe 
of  Protestanism.  The  barbarous  persecutions  of  Protestants  that 
disgraced  the  latter  part  of  her  reign  were  not  sufficient,  however, 
to  completely  check  the  growing  passion  of  Englishmen  for  mari- 
time adventure.  Upon  her  death,  in  November,  1558,  her  half- 
sister,  Elizabeth,  the  great  "Virgin  Queen,"  ascended  the  English 
throne.  Her  reign  was  a  long  one,  lasting  nearly  forty-five  years ; 
and  in  accomplishment  was,  possibly,  the  most  noted  and  splendid 
England  has  ever  known.  During  the  Elizabethan  Period  the  litera- 
ture of  the  world  was  enriched  bj'  the  productions  of  Shakespeare, 
Spencer,  Bacon,  and  other  brilliant  and  profound  English  writers. 
Martin  Frobisher  and  Francis  Drake  created  a  new  spirit  of  mari- 
time enterprise,  and  laid  a  foundation  for  building  the  wonderful 


and  Southwest  Virginia  93 

commercial  and  naval  power  England  has  ever  since  enjoyed.  The 
greed  of  gold,  that  had  given  inspiration  to  all  the  former  explorers 
of  America,  still  existed  and  manifested  itself  in  the  performances 
of  P'robisher  and  Drake,  but  it  was  under  the  patronage  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  that  Englishmen  first  made  earnest  effort  to  establish 
colonies  in  America. 

While   Drake  was  occupied  with  his   daring  naval  adventures, 
which  Bancroft  says  "were  but  a  career  of  splendid  piracy  against 
a  nation  with  which  his  sovei'eign  and  his  country  professed  to  be 
at  peace."  Sir  Humphre}'  Gilbert  was  maturing  plans  for  planting 
colonies  in  North  America.     He  was  a  half-brother  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  by  his  mother's  side,  and  it  is  said  bore  a  striking  resem- 
blance to  him  in  character.     In  June,  1578,  Gilbert  obtained  letters 
patent  from  Queen  Elizabeth,  investing  him,  his  heirs,  and  assigns 
with  authority  to  discover,  occupy  and  possess  such  remote  "heathen 
lands  not  actuall}'  possessed  of  any  Christian  prince  or  people  as 
should  seem  good  to  him  or  them."     He  succeeded  in  enlisting  quite 
a  large  company  of  young  men,  among  them  Walter  Raleigh ;  and, 
largely    at   his   own   expense,   made   preparation   for   a   voyage   to 
America.    After  he  had  ass'^^mbled  his  ships  and  company,  dissensions 
arose,  which  caused  a  good  many  of  the  men  to  withdraw  from  the 
expedition.     But,  with  a  reduced  number  of  ships  and  men,  Gilbert 
persisted  in  his  enterprise;  and  on  the  19th  of  November,  1578,  he 
sailed  from  England,  accompanied  by  Raleigh,  for  the  New  World. 
In   the   way   of   accomplishments   the   expedition    was    a    complete 
failure,  as  no  report  of  where  it  went  and  what  it  did  is  found  in 
history.     Gilbert  returned  with  his  fleet  to  England  in  the  summer 
of    1579.      Undaunted  by  the   failure  of  his   first   undertaking  he 
launched  a   second  expedition,  assisted  again  by  Walter   Raleigh. 
The  queen  tried  to  dissuade  him  from  the  second  voyage,  but  failing 
in  that  effort,  commanded  Raleigh,  who  had  become  a  favorite  of 
Elizabeth,  to  not  accompany  his  brother.     However,  she  sent  Gilbert 
a  letter  on  the  eve  of  his  departure,  in  which  she  wished  him  "as 
good  hap  and  safety  to  his  ship   as  if  she  herself  were  there  in 
person." 

The  fleet,  consisting  of  five  ships,  sailed  from  Plymouth  on  the 
11th  of  June,  1583;  but  on  the  13th  one  of  the  vessels,  that  had 
been  built  and  equipped  at  Raleigh's  expense,  deserted  and  returned 
to  port.  Gilbert  proceeded  with  his  voyage,  and  on  the  5th  of 
August  landed  on  the  coast  of  Newfoundland.  He  took  formal 
possession  of  the  country  for  his  sovereign;  and  some  of  his  men 


94  History  of  Tazewell  County 

found  in  the  adjacent  hills  pieces  of  mica  which  a  mineralogist,  who 
was  in  the  company,  pronoimced  silver.  The  crews  of  the  ships 
became  insurbordinate  and  one  of  the  vessels  was  so  unfit  that  it 
had  to  be  abandoned.  Samples  of  the  supposed  silver  ore  were 
taken  aboard,  and,  with  his  three  remaining  ships,  Gilbert  started 
southward  to  make  further  explorations;  but  a  storm  was  encoun- 
tered and  the  largest  ship  was  lost  near  Cape  Breton,  It  was  then 
determined  to  return  to  England,  with  what  was  left  of  the  fleet,  as 
speedily  as  possible.  At  midnight,  on  September  the  9th,  a  raging 
storm  came  upon  the  two  little  vessels,  and  the  Squirrel,  on  which 
Gilbert  was  sailing,  suddenly  went  down  and  he  and  his  crew 
perished, 

Walter  Raleigh  then  resolved  to  accomplish  that  which  his  gal- 
lant brother.  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  had  striven  so  hard  to  do  but 
had  so  unfortunately  failed  to  perform.  He  obtained  from  Queen 
Elizabeth  a  patent  which  was  more  ample  in  its  provisions  than  the 
one  which  had  been  issued  to  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert.  It  constituted 
Raleigh  lord  proprietor  of  an  extensive  region  in  the  New  World. 
He  concluded  to  profit  by  the  failure  of  those  explorers  who  had 
vainly  sought  a  northwest  passage  to  Asia,  or  to  make  settlements 
in  the  noi'thern  section  of  the  continent.  His  scheme  was  to  seek 
the  more  congenial  clime  of  the  South  Atlantic  coast,  and  there 
plant  a  colony.  In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  he  fitted  out  two  ships 
with  ample  crews  and  jDrovisions  and  placed  them  under  the  com- 
mand of  Philip  Amidas  and  Arthur  Barlow.  On  the  27th  of  April. 
1584,  they  started  on  an  exploring  voyage  to  the  southern  mainland 
of  the  North  American  Continent,  They  sailed  over  the  same  cir- 
cuitous route  that  had  been  used  by  Columbus  and  other  explorers — 
that  is,  by  way  of  the  Canaries  and  the  West  Indies,  A  short  stop 
was  made  at  the  West  India  Islands,  and,  then,  the  expedition 
sailed  northward.  In  due  time,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1584,  it  reached 
the  Carolina  coast,  where  explorations  were  made  for  a  distance  of 
a  hundred  miles  or  more  along  the  shores;  and  on  the  13th  of  July 
the  ships  were  anchored  in  a  small  convenient  harbor.  After  piously 
returning  thanks  to  Almighty  God  for  the  safe  voyage  and  their 
happy  arrival  on  the  delightful  coast,  the  commanders  and  their 
men  went  on  shore  and  took  possession  of  the  country  for  and  in 
the  name  of  the  Queen  of  England.  This  occurred  on  the  Island 
of  Wocoken,  since  known  in  history  as  Roanoke  Island,  It  was 
midsummer  and  the  Englishmen  were  completely  enraptured  with 
the  luxuriant   and  gorgeous   vegetation,  the  excellent  wild  fruits, 


and  Southwest  Virginia  95 

and  the  salubrious  climate.  Amidas  and  Barlow  explored  the  island, 
which  is  twelve  miles  long,  to  the  northern  end.  There  they  foimd, 
as  reported  by  them,  an  Indian  "village  of  nine  houses,  built  of 
Cedar,  and  fortified  round  about  with  sharpe  trees  to  keep  out 
their  enemies,  and  the  entrance  to  it  made  like  a  turne  pike  very 
artificially."  This  evidently  was  a  village  fortified  with  a  stockade 
of  similar  character  to  those  found  by  De  Soto  among  the  Choctaws 
and  Chickasaws  while  he  was  exploring  in  their  regions. 

After  the  commanders  of  Raleigh's  ships  had  explored  Pamlico 
and  Albemarle  Sovmds  and  Roanoke  Island,  and  had  gathered  from 
the  Indians  such  information  as  could  be  obtained  about  the  interior 
country,  the  homeward  voyage  w^as  begun.  They  took  with  them 
to  England  two  of  the  Indian  chiefs,  Manteo  and  Wanchese. 
Upon  their  arrival  in  England,  Amidas  and  Barlow  gave  such  highly 
colored  descriptions  of  the  land  they  had  seen  that  the  people  of 
the  country  again  became  greatly  interested  in  America.  Queen 
Elizabeth  was  so  gratified  with  the  success  of  the  expedition  and 
charmed  by  the  reported  beauties  of  the  newly  discovered  land,  she 
named  the  country  Virginia,  to  commemorate  her  virgin  life. 

On  account  of  his  great  service  to  the  English  Nation  and  Crown, 
Raleigh  was  knighted  by  Queen  Elizabeth ;  and  he  was  also  honored 
by  being  elected  to  Parliament  as  the  representative  of  the  county 
of  Devon.  In  the  spring  of  1585  the  then  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  deter- 
mined to  send  out  a  colony  for  settlement  in  the  territory  of  which 
he  was  lord  proprietor.  One  hundred  or  more  men  were  selected 
for  the  company  of  settlers;  and  these  were  placed  in  charge  of 
Richard  Lane,  who  had  been  selected  for  governor  of  the  colony. 
The  expedition  sailed  from  Plymouth  in  April  and  was  escorted  by 
seven  armed  ships  under  the  command  of  Raleigh's  cousin.  Sir 
Richard  Grenville.  The  reason,  no  doubt,  for  this  protective  escort 
was,  that  trouble  was  then  brewing  between  Spain  and  England, 
which  culminated  in  a  declaration  of  war  between  the  two  nations 
in  July  following.  Tlie  colonists  arrived  safely  at  their  selected 
destination,  but  a  series  of  blunders  and  misfortunes  made  this 
first  attempt  to  plant  an  English  colony  on  the  South  Atlantic  coast 
a  deplorable  failure.  Lane  and  Grenville,  accompanied  by  Thomas 
Cavendish,  the  distinguished  navigator,  and  Hariot,  historian  of 
the  expedition,  went  ashore  and  made  an  excursion  of  eight  days 
among  the  Indians  and  along  the  coast.  The  excursionists  were 
most  hospitably  treated  by  the  natives;  but  while  the  party  was 
visiting  an  Indian  town  a  silver  cup  was  stolen  from  them,  and  this 


96  History  of  Tazewell  County 

trivial  incident  was  treated  so  unwisely  by  Grenville  that  it  was, 
possibly,  the  primal  cause  of  the  disasters  that  finally  broke  up  the 
colony.  The  Indians  were  slow  about  restoring  the  cup  to  its  owner, 
and  Grenville,  either  from  revenge  or  to  intimidate  the  Indians,  had 
the  village  of  the  natives  burned  and  their  growing  corn  destroyed. 
Shortly  after  this  the  colony  was  located  on  Roanoke  Island,  and 
Grenville  sailed  with  his  ships  for  England. 

The  climate  agreed  with  the  men  and  the  health  of  the  colony 
was  excellent,  but  its  first  year  was  uneventful,  though  Lane 
explored  the  country  a  short  distance  to  the  south,  and  he  sailed 
as  far  north  as  Elizabeth  River  where  it  connects  with  Hampton 
Roads.  The  colonists  had  been  chiefly  engaged  in  a  mad  hunt  for 
gold  when  their  first  year  spent  at  Roanoke  Island  had  expired. 
They  had  grown  weary  while  looking  for  supplies  from  England. 
About  this  time  Sir  Francis  Drake^  who  was  returning  from  one  of 
his  piratical  excursions  to  the  Spanish  Main,  entered  Roanoke  Inlet 
with  his  fleet  of  twenty-three  ships.  The  colonists  made  piteous 
appeals  to  Drake  to  take  them  to  England  and  he  complied  with 
their  request.  In  a  little  over  two  weeks  after  the  departure  of  the 
colonists,  Sir  Richard  Grenville  appeared  on  the  coast  with  three 
ships  and  an  abundance  of  supplies.  He  made  a  vain  search  for 
the  colony,  and,  having  no  knowledge  of  its  departure,  left  fifteen 
men  on  the  Island  of  Roanoke  to  hold  its  possession,  and  sailed  back 
to  England.  This  practically  ended  the  first  effort  to  form  a  permar 
nent  English  colony  in  America. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  was  so  much  encouraged  by  the  reports  of 
Hariot,  the  historian  of  his  first  expedition,  as  to  the  fertility  and 
beauty  of  his  province,  that  he  resolutely  set  to  work  to  gather  a 
new  colony  for  starting  and  developing  an  agricultural  community 
in  Virginia.  Therefore,  in  selecting  emigrants  he  chose  men  who 
had  wives  and  families.  John  White  was  appointed  governor  of  the 
new  colony,  and  Raleigh  directed  that  the  settlement  should  be 
made  on  Chesapeake  Bay,  where  it  was  known  ample  harbors  could 
be  found.  The  company  sailed  from  England  in  April,  1587,  in  a 
fleet  prepared  at  the  expense  of  Raleigh,  and  reached  the  coast  of 
North  Carolina  in  July.  Search  was  made  for  the  fifteen  men 
Grenville  had  left  there  as  a  garrison.  The  houses  were  tenantless, 
the  fort  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Indians,  and  human  bones  were 
lying  around,  indicating  the  fate  of  the  fifteen  men  who  composed 
the  garrison.  The  order  of  Raleigh  for  locating  the  colony  at  a 
designated  point  on  the  Chesapeake  Bay  was  brought  to  naught  by 


and  Southwest  Virginia  97 

the  conduct  of  Fernando,  the  naval  officer  of  the  expedition.  He 
refused  to  join  White  in  exploring  the  coasts,  and  sailed  for  the 
West  Indies,  leaving  only  one  vessel  with  the  colony.  Lane,  the 
governor  of  the  first  colony,  had  built  a  fort,  with  a  group  of  dwell- 
ing houses  about  it,  at  the  northern  end  of  Roanoke  Island.  W^hite 
and  his  company  availed  themselves  of  these  buildings,  tliat  had  been 
occupied  by  the  fifteen  unfortunate  men  Grenville  had  left  on  the 
island  as  a  guard. 

The  Roanoke  Indians  had  become  very  suspicious  and  jealous 
of  the  white  men.  Manteo,  one  of  the  chiefs  that  had  accompanied 
Lane  to  England,  remained  friendly;  and  as  a  matter  of  policy 
Raleigh  had  him  invested  with  the  title  of  an  English  baron,  as 
the  Lord  of  Roanoke.  This,  however,  did  not  pacify  the  unfriendly 
natives,  nor  delay  the  disasters  that  followed;  and  repeated  difficul- 
ties and  bloody  encounters  occurred  between  the  Indians  and  the 
colonists.  Conditions  became  so  alarming  that  White  determined 
to  go  to  England  to  procure  succor  in  the  way  of  men  and  much 
needed  supplies.  Before  he  started  on  this  mission,  his  daughter, 
Eleanor  Dare,  wife  of  Ananias  Uare,  gave  birth  to  a  daughter,  on 
the  18th  of  August,  1587.  She  was  the  first  child  born  of  English 
parents  on  the  American  Continent,  and  she  was  named  Virginia. 
About  ten  days  after  this  interesting  event  Governor  White 
embarked  on  his  journey  to  England,  little  thinking  that  he  would 
never  again  see  his  daughter  and  grandchild,  or  any  member  of  the 

colony  he  was  leaving  in  Virginia.  At  the  time  of  White's  departure 
the  colony  was  composed  of  eighty-nine  men,  seventeen  women,  and 
two  children,  all  of  whom  disappeared  during  the  governor's  absence. 
When  he  arrived  in  England  he  found  intense  excitement  prevailing, 
occasioned  by  a  threatened  invasion  from  Spain.  King  Philip  was 
then  building  a  large  fleet,  which  he  was  pleased  to  call  the  "Invinc- 
ible Armada",  to  be  used  for  crushing  the  English  navy  and  trans- 
porting the  Spanish  army  to  England ;  and  which  was  to  destroy 
Protestantism  and  dethrone  Queen  Elizabeth.  All  the  noted  mili- 
tary and  naval  leaders,  among  them  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  were  busily 
occupied  with  preparation  to  repel  the  intended  Spanish  invasion. 
But  Raleigh  found  time  and  occasion  to  provide  White  with  two 
.ships  and  supplies  for  relief  of  the  Roanoke  colony.  A  company  of 
men  was  gathered  and  were  started  out  with  the  two  ships  on  a 
relief  voyage,  but  while  en  route  became  engaged  with  hostile  ships 
in  a  bloody  engagement.  The  ships  were  boarded  by  the  enemy 
T.H.-7 


98  History  of  Tazewell  County 

and  robbed  of  all  their  supplies.  This  forced  the  expedition  to 
return  to  England.  The  unfortunate  circumstance  prevented  the 
sending  of  any  succor  for  the  Roanoke  colonists  until  after  the 
destruction  of  the  Invincible  Armada  was  accomplished  by  Eng- 
land's great  sea-kings^  Drake,  Hawkins,  Winter,  Frobisher  and 
Howard. 

It  was  in  August,  1587,  that  White  parted  from  the  Roanoke 
colony  and  went  to  England  to  crave  assistance.  The  prolonged 
Spanish-English  War  prevented  him  from  returning  to  the  colony 
until  March,  1591,  and  he  was  forced  to  travel  there  as  a  passenger 
on  a  West  Indian  vessel.  When  he  landed  at  Roanoke  Island,  it 
was  nearly  four  years  after  the  birth  of  his  grandchild;  but  he  did 
not  find  little  Virginia  Dare  and  her  mother  there,  or  any  member 
of  the  colony,  to  give  him  welcome.  On  his  departure  for  England 
he  had  directed  that  if  anything  occurred  during  his  absence  making 
it  necessary  for  the  colonists  to  move  to  some  other  spot,  a  record 
should  be  left  by  carving  on  a  tree  the  name  of  the  place  to  which 
they  had  removed;  and  if  they  were  in  distress,  a  cross  was  to  be 
added  to  the  inscription.  The  grief-stricken  man  found  grass 
growing  in  the  fort,  and  tlie  houses  grouped  about  it  were  tenantless. 
On  the  bark  of  a  large  tree  standing  near  the  fort  he  found  the  word 
"Croatan"  carved,  but  no  cross.  Croatan  was  the  name  of  a  neigh- 
boring island  where  an  Indian  settlement,  known  to  White,  was 
located.  In  response  to  his  entreaties,  the  captain  of  the  ship 
consented  to  take  him  to  Croatan  Island,  where  White  hoped  to 
iind  the  entire  body  of  colonists.  A  violent  storm  was  encountered, 
like  those  that  frequently  come  about  Cape  Hatteras.  The  ship 
was  tossed  about  on  the  sea  for  several  days,  and  the  captain, 
despite  the  pleadings  of  his  unhappy  passenger,  turned  the  prow 
of  his  ship  toward  the  east  and  sailed  for  England.  This  was  the 
last  opportunity  White  had  to  seek  his  missing  loved  ones.  Ever 
since,  the  fate  of  Virginia  Dare,  of  her  mother,  and  the  Roanoke 
colony  has  been  a  topic  for  much  speculation.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
made  five  attempts  to  ascertain  the  fate  of  the  colony  but  failed 
to  find  even  a  trace  of  it.  He  had  already  spent  forty  thousand 
pounds,  the  bulk  of  his  fortime,  in  vain  efforts  to  establish  colonies 
in  Virginia.  Discouraged  b.Y  these  failures,  he  transferred  his 
patent  to  a  company  of  merchants  and  capitalists,  some  of  whom 
were  afterwards  identified  with  the  settlement  of  Jamestown. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  99 


CHAPTER  in. 

BIRTH     OF     AMERICAN     NATION ENGLISH     SETTLEMENT 

AT  JAMESTOWN. 

There  are  few  things  in  liistoi-y  so  edifying  and  pleasing  to  the 
investigating  human  mind  as  the  birth  of  a  nation.  That  great 
Semitic  family  known  as  the  Hebrews,  of  which  the  Chaldean 
patriarch,  Abraham,  was  the  progenitor,  for  nearly  four  thousand 
years  has  been  a  fruitful  source  of  pleasure  and  profit  to  students 
of  mankind,  though  the  Hebrews  no  longer  exist  as  a  nation.  No 
matter  when  or  where  a  Jew  is  met  or  seen  by  men  of  intelligence, 
he  is  quickly  associated  with  the  pledge  given  by  the  Great  Jehovah 
to  Abraham,  then  old  and  childless,  that  his  seed  should  become  a 
great  nation,  and  as  such  inherit  the  Land  of  Canaan. 

When  Romulus  and  Remus,  the  twin  sons  of  a  Vestal  Virgin, 
began  to  build  a  rude  wall  around  their  little  town  on  the  Tiber, 
753  years  before  the  Christian  era,  they  never  dreamed  that  they 
were  laying  the  foundation  of  what  would  become  known  in  history 
as  the  "Eternal  City".  Nor  is  it  probable  that  they  had  the  re- 
motest idea  that  from  the  small  community  of  refugee  murderers 
and  slaves  they  gathered  within  the  walls  of  their  citadel,  a  mighty 
nation  would  be  evolved  and  a  splendid  empire  created,  to  stand 
for  centuries  as  the  sovereign  master  of  the  then  known  world. 

No  epoch  in  the  written  or  traditional  history  of  our  Sphere 
has  been  more  potent  in  shaping  the  destiny  of  the  human  race 
than  the  birth  of  the  marvelous  American  Nation.  The  small  com- 
pany of  Englishmen  who,  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, originated  a  crude  plan  for  planting  an  English  colony  in 
Virginia,  never  imagined  that  from  such  a  small  business  venture 
there  would  issue  a  great  nation  of  one  hundred  million  people.  But 
within  a  period  of  three  centuries  following  the  settlement  at  James- 
town, the  magic,  giant  nation  was  in  existence,  and  is  still  here, 
growing  and  taking  on  new  form  and  feature.  It  is  a  strangely 
composite  nation,  the  offspring  of  mingled  nationalities  and  races. 
The  intermixing  of  Teutons,  Celts,  Latins,  Greeks,  Franks,  Huns, 
Slavs,  Bulgars,  Turks,  Armenians,  Jews,  and  other  races  and 
nations,  representing  the  continents  of  Asia,  Africa  and  Europe,  is 
producing  that  peculiar  type  of  man,  the  American.  Even  the 
aboriginal  race  of  the  North  American  Continent  seems  destined  to 
gradually  disappear  in  this  mixing  process,  not  by  extermination  of 


100  History  of  Tazewell  County 

the  Indians  as  decreed  by  the  pioneer  settlers,  but  by  benevolent 
absorption.  In  the  coming  centuries  the  most  astute  ethnologists 
will  find  themselves  hopelessly  entangled  and  puzzled  when  they 
try  to  trace  the  origin  of  the  Americans.  It  will  be  impossible  to 
find  a  common  paternity  for  this  conglomerate  race,  except  by 
turning  back  to  the  primal  origin  of  man.  This  is  truly  a  novel 
method  for  nation  making;  and  one  may  well  inquire,  What  will 
be  the  ultimate  outcome  or  product?  Will  the  American  Nation  be 
welded  into  a  homogeneous  race,  in  which  the  altruistic  spirit  will 
be  so  dominant  as  to  bring  to  pass  the  Utopian  hope  for  the  perfec- 
tion of  liuman  laws  and  the  complete  establishing  of  the  brotherhood 
of  man?  Shall  this  Nation  be  a  citj^  set  upon  a  hill,  a  beacon  to 
illumine  the  way  for  other  peoples  as  they  press  forward  to  the 
goal  of  national  excellence?  Or  shall  there  be  a  realization  of  the 
gloomy  apprehensions  expressed  by  certain  learned  men  of  Europe 
more  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  that  the  discovery  of  America  by 
Christopher  Columbus  and  the  finding  of  a  new  ocean  route  to  Asia 
by  Vasco  da  Gama  may  ])r()vc  a  curst'  ratlier  than  a  blessing  to 
mankind  ? 

At  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  events  that 
materially  afitected  the  colonization  of  America  by  the  English 
people  began  to  occur.  The  protracted  war  with  Spain  had  come 
to  a  conclusion,  with  complete  satisfaction  to  England,  and  with 
the  Spanish  power,  both  on  land  and  sea,  very  greatly  impaired, 
if  not  broken.  Elizabeth  Tudor.  England's  great  queen,  passed 
away  in  1603,  after  a  magnificent  reign  of  nearly  forty-five  years. 
She  was  succeeded  on  the  throne  by  King  James  of  Scotland,  who, 
as  James  I.,  became  sovereign  of  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland. 
Scarcely  had  King  James  mounted  the  English  throne,  when  a  foul 
conspiracy,  lead  by  Robert  Cecil  and  Henry  Howard,  was  formed  to 
excite  the  animosity  of  the  king  against  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  The 
conspirators  were  successful  in  their  malig-nant  designs ;  Raleigh  was 
arrested  for  an  old  trumped-up  offence,  was  confined  in  the  Tower, 
and  after  a  season  was  beheaded  by  the  order  of  the  crafty  and  vain 
little  Scotchman,  the  unworthy  successor  of  the  great  Virgin  Queen. 
No  blacker  crime  tarnishes  the  reign  of  any  of  the  cruel  or  dissolute 
monarchs  of  England  than  the  vicious  murder  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
who  was  undeniably  the  Father  of  Virginia.  But  other  strong  men 
were  destined  to  take  up  the  work  which  Raleigh  had  so  heroically 
begun  of  founding  a  mighty  nation  in  the  Western  Hemisphere. 
The  Earl  of  Southampton  was  released  from  the  Tower  of  London 


and  Southwest  Virginia  101 

about  the  same  time  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  had  entered  its  gloomy 
portals  as  a  prisoner.  Southampton  had  been  connected  with 
Essex's  rebellion  in  1600,  and  had  narrowly  escaped  death,  though 
the  noble  Essex  was,  on  the  25th  of  February,  IGOl,  beheaded  for 
his  foolhardy-effort  to  excite  an  insurrection  against  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, whom  he  had  for  years  served  so  faithfully  and  gallantly. 

Southampton  had  become  greatly  interested  in  making  a  settle- 
ment in  Virginia,  and  began  to  formulate  plans  for  this  undertaking. 
In  1602,  though  then  confined  in  the  Tower,  he  sent  Bartholomew 
Gosnold,  on  a  voyage  of  exploration  to  Virginia.  Its  territorial 
limits  then  extended  north  as  far  as  the  St.  Lawrence  River. 
Gosnold,  with  this,  liis  first,  expedition,  merely  visited  that  portion 
of  the  territory  then  known  as  North  Virginia,  now  the  present 
New  England. 

In  1603,  a  company  of  Bristol  merchants  dispatched  Martin 
Pring  on  a  trading  expedition  to  North  Virginia;  and  about  the 
same  time,  Bartholomew  Gilbert,  son  of  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  and 
the  nephew  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  made  a  voyage  to  the  Chesa- 
peake Bay.  While  coasting  along  its  shores,  young  Gilbert  and 
some  of  his  companions  were  killed  by  the  Indians.  Another  expedi- 
tion under  command  of  Captain  George  Weymouth,  and  of  which 
the  Earl  of  Southampton  and  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  were  patrons, 
visited  the  present  New  England,  then  North  Virginia,  in  1605.  He 
spent  a  month  exploring  and  investigating  that  region,  and  then 
returned  to  England,  taking  with  him  five  Indians,  members  of  a 
tribe  with  whom  a  profitable  trade  had  been  opened.  Upon  his 
arrival  at  home,  Weymouth  made  a  report  so  favorable  as  to  the 
commercial  value  of  the  country  that  renewed  interest  in  America 
was  aroused.  This  was  the  last  voyage  of  exploration  or  prepara- 
tion made  by  Englishmen  prior  to  the  planting  of  the  colony  at 
Jamestown. 

Bartholomew  Gosnold,  who  had  been  very  much  pleased  with 
the  soil,  climate  and  apparently  valuable  resources  of  that  part  of 
the  North  American  Continent  he  had  visited,  went  actively  to  work 
to  procure  aid  from  other  prominent  men  of  his  country  for  estab- 
lishing a  colony  in  Virginia.  After  a  time,  he  succeeded  in  getting 
Edward  Maria  Wingfield,  a  merchant,  Robert  Hunt,  a  clergyman, 
and  John  Smith,  a  soldier  of  fortune,  in  sympathy  with  his  views 
as  to  the  proposed  enterprise.     He  next  secured  the  influence  of  Sir 


102  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Ferdinando  Gorges,  who  was  a  man  of  large  wealth,  and  Sir  John 
Popham,  Chief  Justice  of  England,  to  obtain  from  King  James  a 
patent,  authorizing  a  company  to  settle  a  plantation  in  Virginia. 

On  the  memorable  10th  of  April,  1606,  King  James  I.  issued 
patent  letters  to  certain  of  his  subjects  empowering  them  to  enter 
and  iDossess  all  that  region  of  North  America  lying  between  the 
thirty-fourth  and  forty-fiftli  ])aralle],s  of  latitude,  and  extending 
inland  from  the  Atlantic  coast  one  liundred  miles.  The  territory 
granted  by  the  patent  stretched  northward  from  the  mouth  of  Cape 
l-'ear  River  to  the  dividing  line  between  the  State  of  Vermont  and 
Canada,  and  it  was  set  apart  for  occupation  by  two  rival  companies. 
These  companies  were  called,  respectively,  The  London  Company, 
and  The  Plymouth  Company;  and  they  were  proprietary  associa- 
tions, each  member  thereof  being  invested  with  a  joint  and  several 
proprietary  interest  in  the  domain  granted  their  respective  com- 
panies. The  names  of  but  four  men  were  mentioned  in  the  charter 
of  the  London  Company,  as  follows:  Rev.  Richard  Hakluyt,  Sir 
Thomas  Gates,  Sir  George  Somers,  and  Captain  Edward  Maria 
Wingfield.  This  company  was  assigned  the  southern  zone  of  the 
territory  for  the  establishing  of  its  settlements.  The  Plymouth 
Company  was  authorized  to  locate  its  colony  in  the  northern  zone. 
Raleigh  Gilbert,  William  Parker,  Thomas  Hanham,  and  George 
Popham  were  the  four  persons  named  in  the  charter  of  the  Northern 
Company.  The  first  colony  was  to  confine  its  settlements  to  the 
territory  between  the  thirty-fourth  and  the  thirty-eighth  degrees  of 
latitude;  and  the  second  colony  was  to  occupy  the  territory  between 
the  forty-first  and  the  forty-fifth  degrees,  thus  leaving  a  strip  of 
three  degrees  width  open  to  both  colonies,  upon  certain  conditions. 
There  was  a  provision  in  the  patent  prohibiting  either  company  from 
making  a  settlement  within  a  hundred  miles  of  any  other  settlement 
already  established  by  a  rival  company.  This  plan  virtually  divided 
the  granted  territory  into  three  zones,  the  middle  one  being  made 
neutral. 

As  the  subsequent  doings  of  the  Plymouth  Company  will  have 
but  little  connection  with  the  history  of  Tazewell  County,  which  I 
am  writing,  I  will  confine  myself  to  a  brief  recital  of  the  perform- 
ances of  the  London  Compan}^ 


The  charter  members  of  the  London  Company,  and  the  associate 
shareholders  of  that  proprietary  body,  fitted  out  three  small  vessels 
to  be  used  for  transporting  a  number  of  colonists  to  Virginia.     Cap- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  103 

tain  Christopher  Newport,  one  of  England's  most  skillful  sailors 
and  esteemed  naval  officers,  was  selected  for  commander  of  the 
expedition. 

Spain,  though  terribly  weakened  by  her  disastrous  wars,  still 
asserted  ownership  of  all  the  region  embraced  in  the  then  defined 
bounds  of  Virginia ;  and  resented  the  announced  purpose  of  England 
to  make  encroachments  upon  that  territory.     Zuniga,  the  Spanish 
ambassador  to   England,  having  heard   rumors   of   the   plans   that 
were  being  matured  by  prominent  Englishmen,  to  establish  colonies 
in  Virginia,  forwarded  a  dispatcli  to  his  sovereign.  Philip  III,  warn- 
ing him  of  "an  unpalitable  scheme"  of  the  English,  "to  send  five  or 
six  hundred  men,  private  individuals  of   this   kingdom,  to   people 
Virginia  in  the  Indies,  close  to  Florida."     Sir  John  Popham,  Lord 
Chief  Justice  of  England,  was  known  to  be  one  of  the  promoters  of 
the  movement  for  sending  "people  to  Virginia;"  and  it  appears  that 
the    Spanish    ambassador    made    complaint   to    Popham    about   the 
threatened    encroachments    upon    the    American    dominion    of    his 
sovereign.     Zuniga  reported  that,  in  reply  to  his  protests,  the  Lord 
Chief  Justice  lightly  declared,  that  the  object  of  the  undertaking 
to  establish  a  Virginia  colony  was  to  relieve  England  of  a  lot  of 
thieves  and  worthless  fellows,  and  probably  get  them  drowned  in 

the  sea. 

These  incidents  occurred  a  short  time  previous  to  the  issuance 
of  the  letters  patent  to  the  two  companies.     The  seemingly  jocular 
reply  of  Chief  Justice  Popham  to  the  protest  of  the  representative 
of   Spain  may  have  been   intended  to  be  taken   seriously,   as   the 
majority  of  the  men  who  came  with  the  first  band  of  colonists  to 
Jamestown  were  so  worthless  that  England  could  well  afford  to  be 
rid  of  them.     It  is  truly  astonishing  that  the  intelligent  men  who 
promoted  the  London  Company  undertook  to  establish  a  successful 
colony  with   such   indifferent  material;   and  it   is   no   wonder  that 
disasters  which  threatened  the  life  of  the  enterprise  were  encoun- 
tered from  the  very  beginning.     No  women  and  children  accom- 
panied the  colonists,  and  they  brought  with  them  no  domestic  animals 
or  fowls.     Evidently  it  was  more  of  a  treasure-hunting  adventure 
than  an  agricultural  and  home-making  enterprise.     This  conclusion 
is  supported  bv  the  fact  that  while  the  charter  gave  the  company 
authority  to  own  and  operate  mines,  it  contained  a  provision  which 
required  payment  to  the  king  of  one^fifth  of  all  the  gold  and  silver 
and  one-fifteenth  of  all  the  copper  that  was  found  and  mmed.     An 
impression   then   prevailed   in    England   that  the  precious   metals, 


104  History  of  Tazewell  County 

though  undeveloped,  were  as  abundant  in  Virginia  as  the  Spaniards 
had  found  them  in  Mexico  and  Peru.  There  was  an  absurd  belief 
existing  over  there  that  nature  furnished  such  abundant  supplies  of 
food  over  here,  that  men  could  live  luxuriously  without  toiling. 
A  poem  written  by  Michael  Drayton,  afterwards  poet  laureate  of 
England,  addressed  as  a  farewell  message  to  the  London  Company's 
colonists,  gave  expression  to  the  ridiculous  fancy  of  these  English- 
men.   Thus  spoke  the  poet  in  three  of  the  stanzas: 

"And  cheerfully  at  sea 
Success  you  still  entice. 

To  get  the  pearl  and  gold. 

And  ours  to  hold 
Virginia, 
Earth's  only  paradise! 

"Where  nature  hath  in  store 
Fowl,  venison,  and  fish  ; 

And  the  fruitfull'st  soil 
Without  your  toil. 
Three  harvests  more, 
All  gi'eater  tlian  your  wish. 

"And  the  ambitious  vine 
Crowns  with  his  purple  mass 

The  cedar  reaching  high 

To  kiss  the  sky, 
The  cypress,  pine. 
And  useful  sassafras." 

The  charter  wliich  King  James  issued  to  each  of  the  American 
colonies  was  very  ample  in  its  provisions  for  their  government.  A 
Royal  Council,  consisting  of  thirteen  members,  and  appointed  by  the 
king,  was  placed  in  general  control  of  the  two  companies ;  and  the 
local  management  of  each  colony  was  fixed  with  a  local  council  also 
of  thirteen  members.  The  members  of  the  local  councils  were 
appointed  bj'  the  Royal  Council,  resident  in  London,  and  it  also 
selected  the  presidents  of  tlie  two  local  councils  for  the  first  year. 
After  the  first  year  had  expired,  the  local  councils  were  invested 
with  power  to  select  their  own  presidents  each  year,  and  remove 
them  for  misconduct  or  inefficiency.  These  local  councils  were 
authorized  to  supply  vacancies  in  their  own  inembershi))  caused  by 


and  Southwest  Virginia  105 

death,  removal,  or  resignation.  A  number  of  other  important  powers 
were  given  the  local  councils.  Fiske,  in  his  "Old  Virginia  and  Her 
Neighbors,"  says: 

"Power  was  given  the  colonial  council  to  coin  money  for  trade 
between  the  colonies  and  with  the  natives,  to  invite  and  carry  over 
settlers,  to  drive  out  intruders,  to  punish  malefactors,  and  to  levy 
and  collect  duties  upon  divers  imported  goods.  All  lands  within 
the  two  colonies  were  to  be  held  in  free  and  common  socage,  like 
the  demesnes  of  the  Manor  of  East  Greenwich  in  the  county  of  Kent; 
and  the  settlers  and  their  children  forever  were  to  enjoy  all  the 
liberties,  franchises  and  immunities  enjoyed  by  Englishmen  in  Eng- 
land, a  clause  which  was  practically  nullified  by  the  failure  to  pro- 
vide for  popular  elections  or  any  expression  whatever  of  public 
opinion.  The  authority  of  the  colonial  council  was  supreme  within 
the  colonies,  but  their  acts  were  liable  to  veto  from  the  Crown." 

A  few  days  before  Christmas,  or  to  be  exact  as  to  date,  on  the 
19th  of  December,  1606,  the  first  colonization  expedition  of  the 
London  Company  started  from  Blackwalls,  England;  and  dropped 
down  the  Thames  to  cross  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  settle  a  colony 
in  Virginia.  The  fleet  consisted  of  three  ships,  with  the  commander. 
Captain  Christopher  Newport,  sailing  on  the  Susan  Constant.  The 
Godspeed  was  commanded  b)^  Bartholomew  Gosnold,  and  the  Dis- 
covert/  by  John  Ratcliffe.  On  board  the  three  vessels,  besides  the 
crews,  were  congregated  one  hundred  and  five  colonists.  On  account 
of  "unprosperous  winds"  the  little  fleet  was  detained  for  more  than 
a  week  in  the  Downs,  off  the  Southeast  coast  of  the  county  of  Kent, 
a  large  natural  liarbor  in  which  outward  and  homeward  bound  ves- 
sels took  refuge  to  escape  dangerous  storms,  or  to  await  favorable 
winds.  New  Year's  day.  1607,  the  fleet  got  away  on  its  eventful 
and  momentous  voyage,  which  was  eventually  to  terminate  at  a 
peninsula  on  James  River,  and  where  the  cradle  of  the  American 
Nation  was  decreed  to  be  placed. 

Newport  was  familiar  with  the  course  or  route  which  Columbus 
and  the  other  first  explorers  of  America  had  followed;  and  sailed  his 
ships  by  way  of  the  Canaries  and  West  Indies.  During  the  progress 
of  the  voyage  very  serious  dissensions  arose  among  some  of  the 
leading  spirits  of  the  expedition;  and  these  troubles  were  much 
aggravated  when  it  became  known  that  no  one  among  the  company 
was  clothed  with  sufficient  authority  to  quell  the  disturbances.  King 
James  had  placed  his  instructions  for  the  government  of  the  colony, 


106  History  of  Tazewell  County 

with  the  names  of  the  men  who  were  to  constitute  the  local  council, 
in  a  sealed  box ;  and  had  given  positive  orders  that  the  box  was  not 
to  be  opened  until  the  expedition  reached  its  destination.  This  left 
the  colonists  without  any  designated  leader  to  act  when  emergencies 
came.  Trouble  arose  between  Edward  Wingfield  and  John  Smith, 
and  Wingfield  made  an  accusation  against  Smith  of  plotting  a 
mutiny.  Smith  was  put  in  iron  fetters,  which  he  was  forced  to 
wear  until  the  fleet  arrived  in  Virginia. 

After  a  tedious  voyage  of  four  months'  duration,  Captain  Newport 
entered  the  Chesapeake  Bay  and  landed  with  a  small  party  at  the 
southern  cape,  which  was  named  Cape  Henry,  in  honor  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  eldest  son  of  King  James.  The  northern  cape 
was  afterwards  named  Cape  Cliarles,  from  the  second  son  of  James 
I.,  and  whose  reign,  as  Charles  I.,  and  as  the  successor  of  his  father, 
was  the  most  tragic  and  eventful  in  the  record  of  England's  mon- 
archs.  Captain  Newport  took  the  sealed  box  on  shore  with  him,  and, 
when  opened,  the  names  of  the  local  council  were  disclosed.  Six 
persons  only  were  named,  though  the  charter  had  provided  for 
thirteen  members  of  this  council.  Those  appointed  were  Bartho- 
lomew Gosnold,  John  Smith,  Edward  Wingfield,  John  Ratcliffe, 
John  Martin  and  George  Kendall.  The  malignant  Wingfield  and 
his  associates  refused  to  permit  Smith  then  to  act  as  one  of  the 
council,  but  continued  to  hold  him  a  prisoner  until  after  their  arrival 
at  Jamestown.  At  Cape  Henry  the  colonists  had  their  first 
encounter  with  the  Indians.  Hon.  George  Percy,  a  brother  of  the 
Earl  of  Northumberland,  and  a  member  of  Newport's  landing  party, 
in  a  graphic  account  of  the  occurrences  after  entering  the  Chesa- 
peake thus  describes  the  incident : 

"At  night  when  we  were  going  aboard,  there  came  the  Savages 
upon  all  fours,  from  the  Hills  like  Bears,  with  their  Bowes  in  their 
mouths,  charged  us  desperately  in  the  faces,  hurt  Captain  Gabrill 
Archer,  in  both  his  hands,  and  a  sayler  in  two  places  of  the  body 
very  dangerous.  After  they  had  spent  their  Arrows  and  felt  the 
sharpenesse  of  our  shot,  they  retired  into  the  woods  with  great  noise, 
and  so  left  us." 

These  natives  belonged  to  the  Chesapeake  tribe,  and  were  not  a 
part  of  the  Powhatan  Confederacy.  According  to  Jefferson's  Notes, 
published  in  1809,  their  principal  village  was  located  on  Lynhaven 
River,  in  Princess  Anne  County,  a  small  stream  which  flows  north- 
ward into   Chesapeake  Bay.     Stith  says  in  his  history,  that  they 


and  Southwest  Virginia  107 

were  living  on  the  Elizabeth  River,  which  flows  into  the  Chesapeake 
below  Norfolk.  They  belonged  to  the  Algonquian  family  of  Indians  ; 
and  in  1607  were  estimated  at  one  hundred  warriors,  or  about  three 
hundred  inhabitants.  The  tribe  disappeared  as  a  distinct  nation 
about  the  year  1669. 

Tlie  colonists  remained  for  several  days  in  the  vicinity  of  Lyn- 
haven  Bay,  and  Captain  Newport,  accompanied  by  small  parties, 
made  short  excursions  both  inland  and  along  the  shores.  On  the 
28th  of  April  he  launched  a  shallop  and  with  several  companions 
started  out  on  a  trip  of  investigation.  They  discovered  a  point 
which  put  them  in  such  "good  comfort",  that  they  named  it  "Cape 
Comfort".  It  is  now  known  as  Old  Point  Comfort,  is  at  the  entrance 
to  Hampton  Roads,  and  the  historic  Fort  Monroe  is  located  there. 
On  April  30th  they  brought  their  ships  to  "Cape  Comfort"  ane. 
continued  their  explorations  from  that  point,  visiting  the  rude 
natives  and  partaking  of  their  hospitality. 

Before  the  expedition  sailed  from  England  the  Royal  Council 
had  Rev.  Richard  Hakluyt  prepare  lengthy  written  instructions  for 
the  guidance  of  the  officers  after  their  arrival  in  America.  In  these 
instructions  the  officers  were  urged  to  select  a  site  for  the  permanent 
settlement  that  was  healthful  in  its  surroundings  and  that  could  be 
easily  defended  against  attacks  made  by  the  natives  or  the  Span- 
iards. It  was  thought  that  Spain  might  possibly  resent  and  resist 
the  planting  of  an  English  colony  in  Virginia.  Therefore  the 
instructions  to  the  Local  Council,  in  part,  said : 

"You  must  take  especial  care  that  you  choose  a  seat  for  habita- 
tion that  shall  not  be  overburthened  with  woods  near  your  town, 
for  all  the  men  you  have  shall  not  be  able  to  cleanse  twenty  acres  a 
year,  besides  that  it  may  serve  for  a  covert  for  your  enemies  round 
about. 

"Neither  must  you  plant  in  a  low  or  moist  place,  because  it  will 
prove  unhealthful.  You  shall  judge  of  the  good  air  by  the  people, 
for  some  part  of  that  coast  where  the  lands  are  low  have  their 
people  blear  eyed,  and  with  swollen  bellies  and  legs,  but  if  the 
naturals  be  strong  and  clean  made  it  is  a  true  sign  of  a  wholesome 
soil". 

On  the  13th  of  May,  after  a  number  of  locations  had  been  visited 
and  inspected,  the  leaders  chose  the  little  peninsula  as  the  proper 
spot  for  permanently  establishing  the  colony.  In  most  respects 
the  site  was  the  very  opposite  of  that  which  the  letter  of  instructions 


108  History  of  Tazewell  County 

urged  the  officers  to  select.  It  was  so  low  and  damp  that  it  was 
necessarily  a  breeder  of  malaria;  and  at  high  tide  one  half  the 
point  of  land  was  co^^ered  witli  water.  There  was  no  running  water 
on  or  about  it^  except  the  river,  which  was  so  brackish  at  high  tide 
that  it  was  unfit  to  drink.  Possibly  it  might  have  been  deemed  well 
situated  for  defence  against  the  Indians,  but  that  was  later  shown 
to  be  not  true.  This  peninsula,  which  is  called  Jamestown  Island, 
is  situated  on  the  north  side  of  James  River,  in  James  City  County, 
and  is  thirty-two  miles  above  the  mouth  of  tliat  river.  It  contains 
about  seventeen  hundred  acres,  and  averages  two  and  a  half  miles 
in  length  and  three-fourths  of  a  mile  in  width.  On  the  east,  west 
and  south  sides  it  is  surrounded  by  James  River,  and  on  the  north 
by  Back  River,  the  latter  separating  the  peninsula  from  the  main- 
land. From  its  founding,  in  1607,  until  1698,  Jamestown  was  the 
seat  of  the  Virginia  Colonial  Government.  In  1698  the  government 
was  removed  to  Williamsburg. 

As  soon  as  Captain  Newport  had  landed  the  colonists,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  council,  with  the  exception  of  John  Smith,  took  the  oath 
of  office  and  organized,  electing  Edward  Wingfield  president  for  the 
first  year.  On  the  following  day,  it  is  said,  the  council  put  the  men 
to  work  to  build  a  fort  and  houses  for  the  settlers.  The  work 
accomplished  in  that  direction  appears  to  have  been  in  keeping  with 
the  indolent  and  thriftless  character  of  the  greater  number  of  the 
emigrants.  In  one  of  his  narratives  about  the  settlement,  Captain 
John  Smith  said:  "When  I  went  first  to  Virginia,  I  well  remember 
we  did  hang  an  awning  which  is  an  old  sail  to  three  or  four  trees 
to  shadow  us  from  the  sun;  our  walls  were  rails  of  wood,  our  seats 
unhewed  trees  till  we  cut  planks;  our  pulpit  a  bar  of  wood  nailed 
to  two  neighboring  trees ;  in  fine  weather  we  shifted  into  an  old 
rotten  tent  for  we  had  no  better.  The  best  of  our  houses  were  of 
the  like  curiosity  but  for  the  most  part,  much  worse  workman-ship 
that  neither  could  well  defend  wind  or  rain."  Captain  Smith 
in  his  narrative  said  nothing  about  the  fort.  It  is  likely  that  the 
experienced  soldier  was  either  so  amused  or  disgusted  by  the  thing 
Wingfield  and  his  associates  called  a  fort  that  he  scorned  to  men- 
tion it.  Henry  Howe,  in  his  History  of  Virginia,  thus  speaks  of 
the  so-called  fort:  "The  President,  who  seems  to  have  been  a 
very  weak  man,  and  ill  suited  for  his  station,  was  too  jealous  of  his 
own  men  to  allow  exercises  at  arms  or  a  fortification  to  be  erected; 
and  the  only  protection  provided,  was  a  sort  of  half-moon  formed 
of  the  boughs  of  trees." 


and  Southwest  Virginia  109 

Tn  the  written  instructions  given  by  the  London  Council  was  one 
which  said:  "You  must  observe  if  you  can  whether  the  river  on 
which  you  plant  doth  spring  out  of  mountains  or  out  of  lakes.  If 
it  be  out  of  any  lake  tiie  passage  to  the  other  sea  will  be  the  more 
easy." 

The  minds  of  the  best  informed  men  of  England,  as  well  as  of 
Continental  Europe,  still  clung  to  the  fatuous  belief  that  the  dis- 
tance from  the  Atlantic  to  the  other  sea  (the  Pacific  Ocean)  was 
not  very  great;  and  that  a  water  route  across  the  North  American 
Continent,  connecting  the  two  oceans,  would  surely  be  found.  This 
was  one  of  tlie  cliief  motives  the  English  merchants  had  for  identify- 
ing themselves  with  exploring  expeditions  that  came  to  America. 
All  commercial  Europe  was  then  eagerly  reaching  out  for  the  trade 
of  India  and  other  Asiatic  countries. 

In  obedience  to  the  instructions  of  the  Royal  Council,  Captain 
Newport  took  prompt  steps  for  exploring  the  noble  James  and 
finding  the  source  of  the  river.  Though  the  local  council,  under  the 
control  of  Wingfield,  still  refused  to  allow  Captain  Smith  to  enter 
upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  a  member  of  the  council,  Newport 
had  become  impressed  with  Smith's  ability,  and  took  him  along  on 
the  trip  up  the  James.  The  exploring  party,  in  addition  to  Newport 
and  Smith,  consisted  of  four  other  gentlemen,  four  skilled  marines, 
and  fourteen  common  sailors.  Six  days  were  occuj^ied  by  Newport 
and  his  company  in  making  the  voyage  from  Jamestown  to  the  head 
of  tidewater  at  Richmond.  They  found  an  Indian  village  at  the 
falls  of  the  river,  and  learned  that  the  name  of  the  village  was 
Powhatan  (that  is  "Falling  Waters").  The  village  consisted  of 
about  a  dozen  houses  "pleasantly  seated  on  a  hill",  and  the  buildings 
were  large  clan  houses,  framed  with  wooden  beams,  the  roofs  and 
sides  being  covered  with  bark.  Newport  and  his  companions  were 
kindly  treated  by  these  natives,  and  learned  from  them  that  Pow- 
hatan was  the  head-chief  of  a  confederacy,  consisting  of  a  number 
of  tribes  or  clans ;  and  that  his  principal  town  and  place  of  residence 
was  called  Werowocomoco,  which  was  afterwards  found  to  be  sit- 
uated on  the  north  side  of  York  River  in  the  present  county  of 
Gloucester. 

Upon  their  return  from  their  trip  up  the  river,  Newport  and 
Smith  found  that  during  their  absence  the  colonists  had  been 
attacked  by  hostile  Indians;  and  that  one  Englishman  had  been 
killed  and  eleven  wounded.  For  two  weeks  or  more  after  this 
attack  the  settlers  were  greatly  annoyed  by  the  red  men.     They 


110  History  of  Tazewell  County 

would  conceal  themselves  in  the  tall  grass  near  the  fort,  and  with 
their  bows  and  arrows  pick  off  a  white  man  at  every  opportunity. 
Relief  was  offered  by  friendly  natives  of  the  Powhatan  tribe,  who 
made  the  proffer  of  an  alliance  with  the  Englishmen  to  drive  away 
the  hostiles.  The  Powhatans  also  suggested  that  security  could  be 
obtained  by  cutting  and  burning  the  grass  near  the  fort.  This  was 
done,  and  present  relief  resulted.  The  hostiles  were  not  of  the 
Powhatan  Confederacy,  and  it  is  likely  were  a  band  of  the  Chesa- 
peake warriors. 

Captain  Smith,  who  had  waited  so  patiently  for  a  trial  on  the 
charges  Wingfield  had  made  against  him,  demanded  that  he  be 
given  an  opportunity  to  have  a  hearing  before  a  jury  of  his  peers. 
Wingfield  objected  very  strenuously  to  a  trial,  but  it  was  accorded, 
and  Smith  was  honorably  acquitted  of  all  the  charges.  Thereupon, 
on  the  10th  of  June,  he  was  sworn  in  as  a  member  of  the  council 
and  became  the  most  efficient  and  useful  member  of  that  official  body. 
The  fort  was  completed  on  the  16th,  and  Captain  Newport  sailed  for 
England  on  the  22nd,  carrying  back  on  his  ships  a  cargo  of  sassa- 
fras and  fine  wood  for  wainscoting.  At  that  time  sassafras  was 
very  much  in  demand  in  England  for  its  supposed  medicinal  quali- 
ties, and  for  preparing  a  pleasant  beverage  from  the  bark  or  roots 
of  the  shrub.  The  beverage  was  sold  at  daybreak  by  venders  in  the 
streets  of  London,  under  the  name  of  Saloop. 

When  Captain  Newport  sailed  for  home  lie  promised  to  return 
to  Virginia  in  twenty  weeks.  It  was  found  that  there  was  barely 
enough  food  on  hand,  and  that  of  a  very  poor  quality,  to  sustain 
the  colony  for  fifteen  weeks.  This  made  it  necessary  to  put  every 
one  on  reduced  rations  until  Newport's  return.  By  an  order  of  the 
London  Company  all  supplies  sent  over  from  England,  and  all 
produced  by  the  labor  of  the  colonists,  were  to  be  kept  in  a  common 
stock,  from  which  each  member  of  the  colony  was  to  share  equally. 
This  community  system  was  to  continue  for  five  years ;  and  the  lazy 
and  worthless  were  put  upon  the  same  footing  as  the  industrious 
and  helpful.  Under  such  conditions,  it  is  no  wonder  that  horrible 
suffering  followed  and  continued  until  Newport  returned  from 
England  with  fresh  supplies.  The  most  of  the  settlers  were  too 
indolent  to  avail  themselves  of  the  abundant  supplies  which  nature 
had  placed  about  them.  That  there  was  an  abundance,  which  a 
Trans-Alleghany  pioneer  would  have  used  to  advantage,  is  shown 
by  Hon.  George  Percy,  one  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  colony.  In  a 
letter  sent  by  him  to  a  relative  in  England,  he  said : 


and  Southwest  Virginia  111 

"This  river  which  we  have  discovered  is  one  of  the  famousest 
Rivers  that  was  ever  found  by  any  christian,  it  ebbes  and  flowes 
a  hundred  and  three  score  miles  where  ships  of  great  burthen  may 
harbour  in  safetie.  Wheresoever  we  landed  upon  this  River,  we 
saw  the  goodliest  woods  as  Beach,  Oke,  Cedar,  Cypress,  Walnuts, 
Sassafras,  and  Vines  in  great  abundance,  which  clusters  on  in  many 
trees,  and  all  the  grounds  bespread  with  strawberries,  mulberries, 
Rasberries,  and  Fruits  unlcnown,  there  are  many  branches  of  this 
River  which  runne  flowing  through  the  Woods  with  great  plentie 
of  Fish  of  all  kinds,  as  for  Sturgeon,  all  the  World  cannot  be  com- 
pared to  it.  There  is  also  a  great  store  of  Deer  both  Red  and 
Fallow.  There  are  Beares,  Foxes,  Otters,  Beavers,  Muskrats  and 
wild  beasts  unknowne." 

The  same  gentleman,  Mr.  Percy,  who  wrote  the  above  about 
the  famous  river  and  country,  was  one  of  the  number  who  endured 
the  terrible  sufferings  through  which  the  colony  passed  while  New- 
port was  over  in  England;  and  he  afterwards  wrote  this  about  it: 

"There  were  never  Englishmen  left  in  a  foreigne  Countrey  in 
such  miserie  as  wee  were  in  this  new  discovered  Virginia.  We 
watched  every  three  nights,  lying  on  the  bare  ground  what  weather 
soever  came;  and  warded  all  the  next  day;  which  brought  our  men 
to  be  most  feeble  wretches.  Our  food  was  but  a  small  Can  of 
Barlie  sodden  in  water  to  five  men  a  day.  Our  drink  cold  water 
taken  out  of  the  River,  which  was  at  floud  very  salt;  at  a  low  tide 
full  of  slime  and  filth;  which  was  the  destruction  of  many  of  our 
men.  Thus  we  lived  for  the  space  of  five  months  in  this  miserable 
distresse,  not  having  five  able  men  to  man  our  Bulwarkes  upon  any 
occasion.  If  it  had  not  pleased  God  to  have  put  a  terrour  in  the 
Savages  hearts,  we  had  all  perished  by  those  wild  and  cruell  Pagans, 
being  in  that  weak  estate  as  we  were;  our  men  night  and  day  groan- 
ing in  every  corner  of  the  Fort  most  pitiful  to  heare.  If  there 
were  any  conscience  in  men,  it  would  make  their  harts  bleed  to  heare 
the  pitifuU  murmerings  and  outcries  of  our  sick  men  without  relief, 
every  night  and  day  for  the  space  of  six  weeks;  some  departing  out 
of  the  World,  many  times  three  or  foure  in  a  night;  in  the  morning 
their  bodies  being  trailed  out  of  their  Cabines  like  Dogges,  to  be 
buried.     In  this  sort  did  I  see  the  mortalitie  of  divers  of  our  jaeople." 

This  eccentric  but  graphic  account  of  the  miseries  of  the  unfor- 
tunate colonists  shows  clearly  their  unfitness  for  the  work  they  had 
been  selected  to  perform.    And  it  emphasizes  the  hateful  greed  and 


112  History  of  Tazewell  County 

criminal  carelessness  of  the  London  Company  for  thus  placing  these 
incapable  men  in  such  a  deplorable  situation.  There  were  but  very 
few  of  them  who  had  been  trained  to  work  in  any  way,  most  of  them 
being  of  the  then  idle  class  called  gentlemen.  They  didn't  know 
how  to  work,  and,  if  they  had  known  how,  they  were  so  inadequately 
supplied  with  implements  and  tools  for  doing  agricultural  or 
mechanical  labor  that  they  could  have  accomplished  but  little.  It 
is  not  surprising,  with  so  little  food,  of  such  a  poor  quality,  and 
located  as  they  were  at  a  place  reeking  with  miasma,  that  the 
colonists  became  the  victims  of  deadly  diseases.  In  August,  Captain 
Gosnold  died  from  fever,  and  thereupon  the  quarrel  between  Wing- 
iield,  president  of  the  council,  and  Captain  Smith  was  renewed. 

Shortly  thereafter  charges  were  made  that  Wingfield  was  con- 
cealing and  taking  from  the  scanty  stores  various  luxuries,  including 
wine  and  spirits,  for  the  use  of  himself  and  friends.  This  and  other 
unpopular  acts  caused  the  council  to  depose  him,  and  John  Ratcliife 
was  elected  president  in  his  stead.  A  short  time  afterwards.  Wing- 
field  and  Kendall  were  accused  of  trying  to  escape  from  the  colony 
in  a  pinnace,  and  they  were  removed  from  the  council.  This  left 
only  three  of  the  council  in  office,  Ratclift'e,  Martin  and  Smith. 
Though  the  charter  of  the  London  Company  authorized  and  directed 
them  to  fill  vacancies  in  the  official  body,  they  declined  to  exercise 
that  power.  It  seems  that  Ratcliffe  and  Martin  were  both  very 
unpopular  with  the  colonists,  and  Smith  was  looked  to  as  the  leader 
and  controller  of  the  afiairs  of  the  settlement.  He  accepLetl  the 
responsibilities  of  leader,  and  succeeded  in  getting  affairs  in  order. 
"The  men  were  put  to  work,  and  built  more  comfortable  dwellings ; 
and  Smith  secured  a  supply  of  corn  from  the  Indians,  which  relieved 
the  people  from  a  continued  period  of  starvation. 

Being  again  supplied  with  ample  provisions,  the  indolent  and 
thriftless  remnant  of  the  colony  returned  to  their  former  habits  of 
idleness  and  wastefulness.  Captain  Smith  saw  that  more  supplies 
would  have  to  be  secured  from  the  Indians,  and  he  made  several 
trips  in  the  pinnace  up  the  Chickahominy,  and  possibly  the  James, 
and  purchased  an  abundance  of  corn  from  the  natives.  Cold  weather 
came  on  and  supplies  of  game  were  obtained.  Smith  again  ascended 
the  Chickahominy,  this  time  chiefly  on  an  exploring  expedition,  and 
it  was  then  he  was  made  a  captive  and  was  rescued  from  imminent 
death  by  the  Indian  girl,  Pocahontas.  He  was  in  captivity  some 
five  or  six  weeks,  and  upon  his  release  returned  to  Jamestown.  On 
the  day  of  his  return,  which  was  the  8th  of  January,  1608,  Captaia 


and  Southwest  Virginia  113 

Newport  with  his  relief  ship  reached  the  landing  at  the  settlement, 
bringing  what  was  called  the  First  Supply  of  men  and  provisions. 
Of  the  105  colonists  Newport  left  there  in  June^  there  were  only 
38  surviving,  sixty-seven  had  died  from  disease  and  want  during  his 
absence  of  six  months.  The  First  Supply  added  120  to  the  colony, 
bringing  the  entire  number  up  to  158  persons.  Smith  and  Newport 
realized  that  the  supplies  brought  over  from  England,  with  the  corn 
on  hand  added,  would  not  be  sufficient  to  feed  the  colony  through 
the  winter;  and  they  determined  to  try  to  purchase  more  corn  from 
Powhatan.  A  party  consisting  of  Smith,  Newport,  and  others  not 
mentioned,  paid  a  visit  to  the  old  Indian  chief  at  his  home,  Werowo- 
comoco,  where  they  were  cordially  received  and  hospitably  enter- 
tained. The  Englishmen,  Smith  and  Newport,  succeeded  in  getting 
a  good  supply  of  corn,  exchanging  therefor  glass  beads  and  other 
trinkets  that  struck  Powhatan's  fancy. 

In  the  spring  Newport  sailed  for  England  again,  taking  with 
him  Edward  Wingiield,  the  deposed  and  disgraced  first  president 
of  the  council.  Captain  Smith  spent  the  summer  of  1608  making 
explorations  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay  and  the  Potomac,  Patapsco, 
and  Susquehanna  rivers.  During  his  absence  from  Jamestown  the 
affairs  of  the  colony  again  got  in  a  wretched  condition,  owing,  it  is 
said,  to  the  incompetency  and  unpopularity  of  Ratcliffe,  who  was 
the  successor  of  Wingfield  as  president  of  the  council.  On  his  return 
in  September,  Smith  was  chosen  president  of  the  council,  and  put 
things  in  pretty  good  shape  by  the  time  Newport  got  back  from 
England  with  the  Second  Supply  of  men  and  provisions.  Newport 
arrived  on  the  8th  of  September,  and  brought  over  70  persons.  The 
colony  had  lost  28  of  its  members,  leaving  only  130  of  the  158  left 
by  Newport  in  the  spring.  With  the  70  new  arrivals  the  colony 
then  numbered  200.  There  were  two  women  in  the  last  comj^any, 
a  Mrs.  Forrest  and  her  maid,  Anne  Burroughs.  The  maid  soon  gave 
up  her  maidenhood  by  marrying  John  Laydon.  This  was  the  first 
recorded  English  marriage  solemnized  on  the  American  Continent. 

Newport  on  this  trip  brouglit  instructions  from  the  London  Com- 
pany which  proved  that  its  members  were  not  satisfied  with  the 
progress  of  their  get-rich-quick  scheme.  In  promoting  the  Virginia 
colony  they  believed  they  were  embarking  in  a  very  lucrative  enter- 
prise; but  instead  it  was  proving  a  grave  trouble,  and  a  heavy  loss 
as  a  financial  proposition.  So,  Newport  was  ordereu  to  discover  a 
new  passage  to  the  South  Sea,  to  find  a  large  lump  of  gold,  to  trace 
the  lost  Roanoke  colonj^,  or  not  to  dare  to  return  to  England.    When 

T.H.-8 


114  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Newport  showed  these  instructions  to  Captain  Smith,  the  valiant 
captain  very  aptly  pronounced  the  London  Company  a  lot  of  fools. 
There  was  another  absurd  instruction  given  Newport,  which  the 
historian  Fisk  says:  "Was  grotesque  enough  to  have  emanated  from 
the  teeming  brain  of  James  I.  after  a  mickle  noggin  of  his  native 
Glenlivat."  This  ridiculous  instruction  was  to  the  effect  that 
Powhatan  should  be  crowned  as  a  king,  and  be  made  a  vassal  of 
the  King  of  England.  Smith  and  Newport,  after  preliminary 
arrangements  with  the  Indian  chief,  went  to  Werowocomoco  and 
there,  in  the  chief's  wigwam,  performed  a  burlesque  coronation  cere- 
mony. They  put  a  scarlet  robe  on  the  greasy  old  man,  and  placed 
a  tinsel  crown  on  his  head.  The  newly  crowned  forest  monarch  sent 
his  old  raccoon-skin  cloak  as  a  present  to  his  royal  brother.  King 
James  1.  Smith  and  Newport  were  very  elaborately  entertained  by 
King  Powhatan.  A  wonderful  masquerading  performance  that  was 
presented  before  the  English  visitors  was  described  as  follows  by 
one  of  the  party: 

"In  a  fayre  playne  field  they  made  a  fire,  before  which  we  sitting 
upon  a  mat,  suddainly  amongst  the  woods  was  heard  *  *  *  a 
hydeous  noise  and  shrieking.  *  *  *  Then  presently  we  were  pre- 
sented with  this  anticke;  thirtie  young  women  came  nearly  naked 
out  of  the  woods,  their  bodies  all  painted,  some  white,  some  red, 
some  black,  some  particolour,  but  all  differing;  their  leader  had  a 
fayre  payre  of  buck's  horns  on  her  head,  and  an  otter's  skin  at  her 
girdle,  and  another  at  her  arm,  a  quiver  of  arrows  at  her  back,  a  bow 
and  arrow  in  her  hand ;  the  next  had  in  her  hand  a  sword,  another  a 
club,  *  *  *  all  horned  alike  *  *  *  These  fiends  with 
most  hellish  shouts  and  cries,  rushing  from  among  the  trees,  cast 
themselves  in  a  ring  about  the  fire,  siging  and  dauncing  with  most 
excellent  ill  varietie;  *  *  *  having  spent  near  an  houre  in  this 
mascarado,  as  they  entered  in  like  manner  they  departed.  Having 
reaccomodated  themselves,  they  solemnly  invited  us  to  their  lodg- 
ings, where  we  were  no  sooner  within  the  house  but  all  these 
nymphes  more  tormented  us  than  ever,  with  crowding,  pressing,  and 
hanging  about  us,  most  tediously  crying.  Love  you  not  me?  This 
salutation  ended,  the  feast  was  set,  consisting  of  fruit  in  baskets, 
fish  and  flesh  in  wooden  platters;  beans  and  peas  there  wanted  not, 
nor  any  salvage  dainty  their  invention  could  devise.  Some  attend- 
ing, others  singing  and  dancing  about  us;  which  mirth  and  banquet 
being  ended,  with  firebrands  for  torches  they  conducted  us  to  our 
lodging."  ,  / 


and  Southwest  Virginia  115 

These  impersonators  of  the  wood  nymphs  were  Pocahontas  and 
other  maidens  of  the  tribe.  The  Indian  princess  was  then  just  enter- 
ing her  teens;  and  had  no  thought  at  the  time  she  was  "Masca- 
radoing"  for  the  amusement  of  a  company  of  English  adventurers, 
that  she  would  very  soon  thereafter  become  a  leading  character  in 
a  drama,  with  a  continent  for  its  stage  and  a  mighty  nation  its 
theme.  She  saved  the  life  of  Captain  John  Smith  by  placing  her 
own  head  upon  his  to  shield  him  from  the  impending  blows  of  Indian 
bludgeons ;  and  helped  him  save  the  life  of  the  Jamestown  colony 
when  threatened  with  destruction  from  starvation  and  other  perils. 
Nor  did  the  dusky  maiden  dream  when  cooing  to  a  pale-faced  guest 
of  her  father,  "Love  you  not  me.''"  that  in  a  little  while  she  would 
be  made  the  bride  of  a  white  gentleman  and  have  introduction  to 
proud  Albion's  nobility  and  royalty;  and  would  become  the  historic 
ancestress  of  some  of  Virginia's  most  distinguished  sons,  and  even 
of  the  beautiful  wife  of  a  President  of  the  United  States. 

Captain  Newport  made  an  ineffectual  effort  to  discover  a  route 
to  the  Salt  Sea  that  was  believed  to  be  not  far  beyond  the  mountains. 
Although  Smith  tried  to  dissuade  him  from  the  attempt  he  went 
upon  a  trip  of  discovery  above  the  falls  of  James  River,  but  returned 
with  his  party  without  even  reaching  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains. 
Smith  went  energetically  to  work  to  provide  a  cargo  to  send  to 
England,  which  was  composed  of  tar,  pitch,  glass  and  boards ;  and 
Newport  again  started  on  a  home  voyage,  taking  along  Ratcliffe, 
the  second  deposed  president.  Captain  Smith  sent  by  Newport  a 
letter  to  the  Royal  Council  in  London  in  which  he  set  forth  the 
mistakes  that  prevented  the  success  of  the  colony.     In  part,  he  said: 

"When  you  send  again  I  intreat  you  to  send  but  30  carpenters, 
husbandmen,  gardeners,  fishermen,  blacksmiths,  masons,  and  diggers 
up  of  trees,  roots,  well  provided,  rather  than  1,000  of  such  as  we 
have;  for  except  we  be  able  both  to  lodge  them  and  feed  them,  the 
most  will  consume  with  want  of  necessaries  before  they  can  be  good 

for  anything. 

*     *     * 

"These  are  the  causes  that  have  kept  us  in  Virginia  from  laying 
such  a  foundation  as  ere  this  might  have  given  much  better  content 
and  satisfaction;  but  as  yet  you  must  not  look  for  any  profitable 
returns;  so  I  humbly  rest." 

Captain  Smith  had  a  very  quaint  style  of  expressing  his  views, 
but  he  managed  to  inform  the  Royal  Council  that  they  were  respon- 


116  History  of  Tazewell  County 

sible  for  tlie  ill  success  of  the  colony;  and  also  to  tell  them  they 
should  expect  no  profitable  returns  from  their  venture  until  a  change 
was  made  in  the  character  of  the  emigrants  that  were  being  sent 
across  the  waters  to  Virginia.  He  put  all  the  men  to  work  with 
the  assurance  that:  "He  who  would  not  work,  might  not  eat;"  and 
Jamestown  began  to  assume  an  appearance  of  life  and  thrift.  We 
are.  told  that  they  "digged  and  planted"  twenty  or  thirty  acres  in 
cornj  and  cultivated  it  under  the  instructions  of  two  friendly  Indians. 
This  was  a  pretty  big  job,  especially  the  digging  of  thirty  acres 
with  hoes;  and  it  shows  how  impractical  and  careless  the  Royal 
Council  had  been  in  not  providing  horses  or  oxen  to  plow  and  culti- 
vate the  land. 


At  the  request  of  the  London  Company  a  new  or  second  charter 
was,  on  the  23rd  of  ISIay.  1()09.  granted  the  company,  which  clianged 
its  form  of  management  and  made  material  alterations  in  the  bound- 
aries of  Virginia.  Tlie  company  was  changed  from  a  proprietary 
organization  to  a  corporate  body,  to  be  known  as  the  "Treasurer  and 
Company  of  Adventurers  and  Planters  of  the  City  of  London  for 
the  First  Colony  in  Virginia."  All  the  power  of  control  which  was 
reserved  by  the  king  in  the  first  charter  was  transferred  to  the  com- 
pany, and  the  management  of  the  Virginia  Colony  was  committed  to 
a  Supreme  Council  to  be  chosen  by  the  shareholders  and  to  reside  in 
England.  This  Su]ireme  Council  had  autliority  to  legislate  for  the 
colony  and  to  appoint  a  governor  and  coiuicil  to  conduct  its  local 
affairs.  The  new  charter  gave  to  the  corporate  body  "all  those 
Lands,  Countries  and  Territories  situated,  lying  and  being  in  that 
part  of  America  called  Virginia,  from  the  Point  ot  Land  called  Cape 
or  Point  Comfort,  all  along  the  Sea  Coast  to  the  Northward  200 
miles,  and  from  said  Point  of  Cape  Comfort,  all  along  the  Sea  Coast 
to  the  Southward  200  miles,  and  all  that  space  and  circuit  of  Land, 
lying  from  the  Sea  Coast  of  the  Present  aforesaid,  up  into  the  land, 
throughout  from  Sea  to  Sea,  West  and  Northwest,  and  all  the  islands 
lying  within  100  miles  along  the  coast  of  both  Seas  of  the  Precinct 
aforesaid."  This  extended  the  territory  of  Virginia  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  and  to  the  Great  Lakes. 

L^pon  its  reorganization  the  company  selected  Sir  Thomas 
Smith,  a  prominent  London  merchant,  for  treasurer  of  the  corpora- 
tion, and  Thomas  West  (Lord  Delaware)  for  governor  of  Virginia. 
Smith  and  Lord  Delaware  were  both  men  of  very  fine  character, 
and  their  appointnient  to  these  high  executive  offices  bespoke  better 


and  Southwest  Virginia  117 

days  for  the  Jamestown  colony.  As  soon  as  tlie  new  charter  was 
secured  steps  were  taken  to  organize  another  expedition;  and  some 
500  persons,  men,  women,  and  children,  were  induced  to  cross  the 
ocean  and  become  settlers  in  Virginia.  A  fleet  of  nine  vessels,  with 
ample  supplies,  was  assembled,  and  Captain  Newport,  the  able 
mariner,  was  placed  in  charge.  He  sailed  with  his  fleet  from  Eng- 
and  in  June,  1609,  and  in  August  the  Third  Supply,  300  or  more 
persons,  reached  Jamestown.  The  balance  of  the  emigrants  were 
on  the  ship  Sea  Venture,  along  with  Sir  Thomas  Gates  and  Sir 
George  Somers,  who  were  sent  out  by  the  comjjany  to  give  personal 
supervision  to  the  colony.  Their  vessel  was  separated  from  the 
balance  of  the  fleet  and  was  wrecked  by  a  storm  on  the  coast  of  the 
Bermuda  Islands.  This  part  of  the  expedition  had  to  remain  in 
the  Bermudas  for  nearly  a  year.  They  built  small  vessels  and  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  to  Jamestown  on  May  10th,  1610. 

The  failure  of  Gates  and  Somers  to  reach  Jamestown  with  the 
main  part  of  the  expedition  left  the  control  of  the  colony  in  the 
hands  of  Captain  Smith.  He  soon  found  out  that  the  newly  arrived 
emigrants  were  very  much  inferior  to  the  former  ones,  of  whose 
quality  he  had  complained  to  the  London  Company.  The  new- 
comers were  largely  of  the  shiftless  vagabond  class,  whom  Smith 
described  as  "unruly  gallants  packed  thither  by  their  friends  to 
escape  ill  destenies." 

President  Smith  had  never  approved  of  the  Jamestown  site  for 
the  colony,  because  of  its  unhealthy,  marshy  surroundings;  and  he 
determined  to  hunt  a  better  situation.  With  this  end  in  view,  li. 
sailed  up  the  James  to  the  Indian  village  called  Powhatan,  and 
purchased  from  the  Powhatan  tribe  a  tract  of  land  close  to  where 
the  city  of  Richmond  now  stands.  Because  of  its  beautiful  and 
pleasant  location  he  named  the  place  "Nonesuch".  While  he  was 
returning  to  Jamestown,  Smith  was  severely  injured  by  the  acci- 
dental explosion  of  a  bag  of  gunpowder.  The  wounds  he  received 
were  so  severe  that  he  was  compelled  to  go  to  England  for  surgical 
treatment,  and  early  in  October  he  sailed  on  the  home  voyage;  and 
this  severed  finally  his  ofiicial  connection  with  the  first  Virginia 
colony.  Smith  left  George  Percy  in  command,  but  that  gallant 
gentleman  did  not  have  the  executive  ability  or  the  qualities  of 
leadership  needed  to  control  the  500  colonists,  most  of  whom  were 
unruly  vagabonds.  Trouble  arose  with  the  Indians  and  the  red 
men    slew    the    settlers    at    every    opportunity.      The    disreputable 


118  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Ratcliffe  and  thirty  of  his  associates  were  killed  at  one  time  while 
on  a  trading  visit  to  the  Pamunkey  village. 

When  winter  came  on  more  cabins  were  needed,  but  the  men 
were  too  worthless  to  build  them,  and  some  of  the  colonists  died  from 
exposure.  Then,  what  was  afterwards  called  "The  Starving  Time" 
came  on.  The  supply  of  food  became  exhausted,  Percy  was  sick, 
Smith  was  in  England,  and  famine,  in  most  horrid  form,  took  pos- 
session of  the  settlement.  For  a  short  time  the  people  subsisted 
on  herbs  and  roots.  Then  they  resorted  to  the  horrible  practice  of 
cannibalism.  A  slain  Indian  was  boiled  and  eaten,  and  starving 
men  began  to  cook  and  eat  their  own  dead.  One  brute  killed  his 
wife,  salted  her  down,  and  had  eaten  a  part  of  her  body  when  his 
fiendish  act  was  discovered,  and  he  was  burned  at  the  stake  by 
outraged  though  starving  citizens.  McDonald  in  his  "Life  in  Old 
Virginia,"  says: 

"Smith  left  in  Virginia  three  ships  and  seven  boats,  a  supply 
of  commodities  ready  for  trade  with  the  Indians,  a  goodly  supply 
of  corn  newly  gathered,  provisions  in  store  for  the  colony,  three 
hundred  muskets  with  other  arms  and  ammunition,  nets  for  fishing, 
tools  of  all  sorts  for  work,  apparel  to  supply  their  wants,  six  mares 
and  a  horse,  more  than  five  hundred  hogs,  as  many  hens  and  chickens 
and  some  sheep  and  goats." 

It  is  almost  incredible  that  nearly  five  hundred  persons  could 
have  been  gathered  together  from  any  part  of  the  world,  and  espec- 
ially from  England,  as  incapable  and  helpless  as  these  colonists. 
There  were  four  hundred  and  ninety  persons  in  the  colony  when 
Captain  Smith  left  in  October,  1610;  and  when  Gates  and  Somers 
arrived  in  May,  1611,  only  sixty  were  left.  Vice,  sickness,  indolence, 
and  famine  had  accomplished  their  deadly  work;  and  if  relief  had 
been  delayed  a  few  days  longer  there  would  have  been  none  left  to 
tell  the  deplorable  fate  of  the  settlement.  Gates  and  Somers  were 
struck  with  horror  by  the  conditions  they  found,  and  readily  con- 
sented to  take  the  miserable  people  back  to  England.  Tearfully 
the  captains  realized  that  Virginia  must  be  abandoned,  and  they 
got  the  people  aboard  their  small  vessels,  with  the  intention  of  sailing 
to  the  coast  of  Newfoundland,  to  get  a  supply  of  fish,  and  then 
cross  the  ocean  to  England.  On  the  7th  of  June  they  dropped  with 
the  tide  down  James  River  and  spent  the  night  at  Mulberry  Island 
The  next  morning  anchors  were  weighed  and  the  expedition  started 
again   on  the   homeward  journey;   but   at   noon,   when   they   were 


and  Southwest  Virginia  119 

entering  Hampton  Roads,  they  discovered  in  the  distance  a  small 
boat  approaching.  It  proved  to  be  the  longboat  of  Lord  Delaware, 
who  was  coming  to  take  up  his  work  as  the  first  governor  of  Vir- 
ginia. He  had  with  him  three  ships  well  stocked  with  supplies, 
and  the  colonists  were  easily  persuaded  to  return  to  Jamestown  and 
resume  the  effort  to  make  a  permanent  settlement  in  Virginia.  On 
the  morning  of  the  8th  they  were  landed  at  the  desolate  place  so 
recently  deserted;  and  Lord  Delaware  fell  upon  his  knees,  raised 
his  hands  toward  heaven  and  devoutly  thanked  God  for  permitting 
him  to  reach  Virginia  in  time  to  save  the  life  of  the  colony. 

The  first  act  of  Lord  Delaware  upon  landing  was  to  have  a 
religious  service  held.  After  a  sermon  had  been  preached,  the 
governor  read  his  commission  and  made  a  speech  to  all  the  people, 
in  which  he  censured  the  old  settlers  for  their  vanities  and  idleness, 
and  gave  them  to  understand  that  under  his  administration  the 
vicious  and  slothful  would  receive  no  mercy.  He  put  the  men  to 
work  building  new  fortifications  and  repairing  the  houses,  and  the 
little  church  was  made  neat  and  attractive  again.  A  bell  was  hung 
at  a  convenient  point,  to  take  the  place  of  a  clock,  and  was  rung  to 
regulate  the  hours  of  work;  and  system  and  order  were  established 
in  the  settlement.  The  winter  of  1610-11  was  in  many  respects  a 
hard  one  for  the  colony,  but  was  not  as  severe  as  the  previous  one. 
Still,  about  150  of  the  settlers  died  during  the  winter,  and  Lord 
Delaware's  health  was  so  greatly  impaired  that  he  was  compelled 
to  return  to  England.  For  a  short  time  George  Percy  was  aarain 
left  in  command.  Captain  Newport  made  another  trip  to  the  colonv 
in  March,  this  time  bringing  300  emigrants  who  were  more  shift- 
less and  worthless  than  any  of  the  previous  supplies.  Sir  Thomas 
Gates  was  appointed  deputy  governor,  but  for  some  reason  could 
not  at  that  time  come  to  Jamestown;  and  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  with 
the  title  of  High  Marshal  of  Virginia,  was  sent  over  to  tate  charge. 

For  the  next  five  years  Dale  ruled  the  colonv.  Lord  Delaware, 
the  governor,  remaining  in  England  during  the  time.  The  Hiarh 
Marshal  proved  himself  well  suited  for  the  task  ffiven  him.  Bv 
his  great  energy,  indomitable  will  and  splendid  common  sense,  he 
broua:ht  order  out  of  chaos,  and  put  the  Virffinia  colonv  once  more 
on  the  road  to  permanency.  When  he  reached  Jamestown  he  found 
the  men  idling  away  their  time  playinar  games,  instead  of  plantins: 
and  cultivating  the  soil.  A  severe  code  of  laws  was  immediatelv 
prepared  and  put  in  force  to  stay  the  idle  and  vicious  dispositions 
of  the  men ;  and  a  number  of  offenses  were  punished  with  death.    A 


120  History  of  Tazewell  County 

plot  to  overthrow  and  kill  Dale  was  formed  by  Jeffrey  Abbot  and 
other  desperate  characters.  The  plot  was  discovered  and  Abbot 
and  four  of  his  companions  were  executed.  In  the  fall  of  1611, 
six  months  after  Dale  took  charge,  another  supply  of  settlers  was 
brought  over,  and  the  colony  then  numbered  about  eight  hundred 
persons.  A  good  stock  of  cows,  oxen  and  goats  was  also  added  to 
the  increasing  resources  of  the  colony.  The  idea  of  expansion  from 
the  Jamestown  colony  followed,  and  a  settlement  was  made  at  the 
mouth  of  James  River  where  the  present  town  of  Hampton  is  now 
located.  This  is  the  oldest  continuous  settlement,  save  two,  in  the 
United  States,  St.  Augustine,  Florida,  and  Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico. 
It  seems  that  Sir  Thomas  Dale  thought,  as  did  Captain  Smith,  that 
a  more  favorable  site  should  be  selected  for  the  colony.  So  believ- 
ing, he  selected  the  Dutch  Gap  peninsula  farther  up  the  James  and 
built  a  town  there.  He  called  the  place  Henricus,  after  the  then 
Prince  of  Wales,  and  erected  fortifications  and  houses  for  three 
hundred  persons.  Other  settlements  were  made  at  Bermuda  and 
Shirley  Hundreds  on  James  River,  and  at  Dale's  Gift  near  Cape 
Charles  on  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia.  The  establishment  of 
these  new  settlements  was  a  strong  assurance  that  the  colonization 
of  Virginia  had  become  permanent. 

The  London  Company  applied  to  King  James  for  a  new  charter, 
and  on  the  12th  of  March,  1612,  it  was  granted  by  the  king,  and  is 
known  as  the  Third  Charter.  The  company  wanted  to  get  posses- 
sion of  the  Bermuda  Islands  and  to  secure  for  its  members  fuller 
and  more  direct  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  corporation ;  and 
these  two  things  as  well  as  man}^  others  of  importance  were  secured 
by  the  Third  Chai'ter.  In  this  same  year  another  important  event 
in  the  history  of  Virginia  occurred,  it  being  the  marriage  of  John 
Rolfe.  the  English  gentleman,  to  Pocahontas,  the  uneducated  Indian 
girl,  the  daughter  of  Powhatan.  Rolfe  and  his  English  wife  were 
among  the  emigrants  who  were  cast  on  the  Bermuda  Islands  when 
the  Sea  Venture  was  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  those  islands.  They 
came  from  the  Bermudas  to  Jamestown  with  Gates  and  Somers  in 
May,  1610.  Soon  after  they  arrived  in  Virginia,  Mrs.  Rolfe  died; 
and  later  on  her  widowed  husband  became  the  lover  of  the  dusky 
Indian  girl,  who  had  been  made  a  captive  by  Captain  Argall  and 
held  as  such  at  J  amestown.  Rolfe  did  not  wish  to  marry  a  heathen ; 
and  Pocahontas  was  baptized  into  the  Christian  faith  and  given  the 
Bible  name,  Rebekah.     The  marriage  was  celebrated  in  the  church 


and  Southwest  Virginia  121 

at  Jamestown,  and  witnessed  by  a  mixed  company  of  Indians  and 
Englishmen. 

It  is  said  that  Rolfe  was  the  first  Englishman  who  cultivated 
tobacco  for  commercial  purposes.  He  and  his  Indian  wife  went 
to  England  in  1616  in  the  same  vessel  with  Sir  Thomas  Dale  after 
he  vacated  the  office  of  High  Marshal  of  Virginia.  Pocahontas 
became  a  popular  society  rage  in  London,  where  she  was  entertained 
and  banqueted  by  English  royalty  and  nobility.  In  1617,  when 
Argall  was  appointed  deputy  governor  of  Virginia,  Rolfe  was 
made  secretary  for  the  colony.  On  the  eve  of  his  sailing  for  Vir- 
ginia, Pocahontas  became  suddenly  ill  and  died  at  Gravesend,  and 
was  buried  in  the  parish  church  at  that  place.  She  had  one  child, 
Thomas  Rolfe,  who  remained  in  England  with  an  uncle  until  he 
attained  his  manhood.  He  then  came  to  Virginia  and  settled  per- 
manently, and  became  the  ancestor  of  some  of  the  most  prominent 
families  in  the  State. 

In  1616  George  Yeardley  was  in  Virginia  as  deputy  governor, 
and  succeeded  Sir  Thomas  Gates  as  acting  governor;  and  adminis- 
tered the  affairs  of  the  colony  until  Captain  Samuel  Argall  was 
appointed  deputy  governor  in  1617.  Argall's  administration  was 
brief  and  very  unsatisfactory.  He  ruled  with  as  much  severity  as  his 
predecessor.  Dale,  but  his  conduct  of  the  office  was  unscrupulous  and 
dishonest.  After  serving  one  year,  Argall  was  recalled  by  the 
company,  and  Lord  Delaware  was  directed  to  again  take  personal 
charge  of  the  colony.  Delaware  sailed  from  England  in  the  spring 
of  1618  to  resume  his  duties  as  governor.  He  was  accompanied  by 
200  emigrants  and  traveled  by  way  of  the  Azores.  While  they 
were  making  a  short  stay  at  St.  Michael  Island,  Lord  Delaware  and 
thirty  of  his  companion  voyagers  became  violently  ill  and  died. 
There  was  a  strong  suspicion  that  they  were  poisoned  by  the  Span- 
iards who  entertained  them  at  St.  Michael's. 

Up  to  1612,  no  member  of  the  colony  was  permitted  to  enjoy 
private  ownership  of  land.  Sir  Thomas  Dale  then  became  con- 
vinced that  the  community  system,  which  had  been  enforced  since 
the  founding  of  the  colony,  had  proved  the  principal  cause  of  the 
suffering  from  starvation,  in  that  it  discouraged  the  industrious  and 
encouraged  the  lazy  in  their  indolent  habits.  Acting  upon  th''- 
belief,  he  made  distribution  of  small  portions  of  land  to  each  settler 
to  work  for  his  own  benefit,  but  required  that  a  certain  portion  of 
the  products  should  be  turned  into  a  general  store  to  be  used  for  the 
common  bmefil  in  an  emeraencv. 


122  History  of  Tazewell  County 

George  Yeardley  was  knighted  and  appointed  governor  of  Vir- 
ginia to  succeed  Lord  Delaware.  In  1619  the  colony  had  increased 
to  2,000  persons;  and  the  people  demanded  that  they  should  be 
accorded  local  self-government,  and  the  request  was  granted.  Gov- 
ernor Yeardley  was  directed  to  issue  writs  for  the  election  of  a 
General  Assembly  in  Virginia.  Writs  were  issued  for  an  election 
of  representatives  from  eleven  local  constituencies  or  boroughs,  which 
were  designated  as  City,  Plantation,  and  Hundred;  and  each  con- 
stituency was  given  two  representatives,  who  were  called  burgesses. 
This  gave  the  name,  House  of  Burgesses,  to  the  Assembly,  which 
name  continued  in  use  from  1619  until  the  Revolutionary  War  in 
1776.  The  eleven  boroughs  that  sent  representatives  were  James 
City,  Charles  City,  the  City  of  Henricus,  Martin  Brandon,  Martin's 
Hundred,  Lawne's  Plantation,  Ward's  Plantation,  Argall's  Gift, 
Flowerdien  Hundred,  Smith's  Hundred,  and  Kecoughtan.  Soon  after- 
wards the  name  of  Smith's  Hundred  was  changed  to  Southampton 
Hundred  and  Kecoughtan  was  changed  to  Hampton.  The  assembly, 
in  addition  to  the  twenty-two  elective  members,  had  an  upper  house, 
which  was  composed  of  the  governor,  deputy  governor  and  an  assist- 
ant council,  and  altogether  they  constituted  a  General  Assembly. 
The  body  was  invested  with  both  legislative  and  judicial  functions 
and  had  full  authority  for  legislating  for  the  colony ;  but  its  acts  had 
to  be  approved  by  the  General  Court  of  the  London  Company  before 
they  were  enforced.  On  July  the  30th,  1619,  the  General  Assembly 
of  Virginia  met  for  organization  and  business  in  the  church  at 
Jamestown,  and  was  the  first  legislature  that  assembled  in  the 
English  colonies  of  America. 


During  the  year  1619,  other  events  of  importance  affecting  the 
future  of  the  colony  and  Virginia  occurred.  One  of  these  was  the 
introduction  of  African  slaves,  which  came  soon  after  the  right  of 
local  self-government  had  been  accorded  the  colony,  and  a  short 
time  after  the  first  sitting  of  the  General  Assembly.  John  Rolfe. 
who  was  then  secretary  of  the  colony,  said:  "About  the  last  of 
August  there  came  in  a  Dutchman  of  warre  that  sold  us  twenty 
negars."  Five  years  later  a  census  showed  that  there  were  only 
twenty-two  negroes  in  the  colony,  and  the  increase  of  slaves  came 
very  slowly  in  Virginia. 

The  next  most  important  event  was  the  bringing  of  a  ship-load 
of  young  women-spinsters,  selected  with  care  as  to  character  and 
in  charge  of  matrons,  to  become  wives  for  the  unmarried  men  who 


and  Southwest  Virginia  123 

were  greatly  in  the  majority  in  the  colony.  These  young  women 
were  left  free  to  select  their  own  husbands,  and  had  no  trouble 
finding  plenty  of  suitors;  but  no  accepted  suitor  could  marry  his 
girl  until  he  had  paid  the  company  120  pounds  of  tobacco  to  cover 
the  expense  of  transporting  her  to  Virginia.  This  matrimonial 
experiment  resulted  so  happily  that  the  practice  of  bringing  over 
wives  for  the  bachelors  was  continued;  and  the  following  year 
"Sixty  yoimg  maids  of  virtuous  education,  young,  handsome,  and 
well  recommended",  were  imported.  This  resulted  in  the  estab- 
lishing of  many  pleasant  homes,  and  naturally  increased  immigra- 
tion. In  1622  the  population  had  become  four  thousand,  the  culti- 
vation of  tobacco  had  been  made  an  important  and  profitable 
industry,  domestic  ties  were  strengthened,  habits  of  thrift  super- 
seded the  indolent  and  wasteful  customs  that  had  prevailed,  and 
cheerful  comfort  chased  away  the  gloom  and  squalor  that  threatened 
the  life  of  the  colony. 

Other  incidents  of  importance  in  this  eventful  year  of  the  colony 
occurred.  A  college  was  established  in  Henrico  for  the  purpose  of 
educating  and  converting  the  native  children  to  Christianity.  King 
James,  through  the  various  Bishops  of  England,  collected  a  fund 
of  fifteen  thousand  pounds  for  endowing  the  institution;  and  the 
London  Company  donated  10,000  acres  of  land  to  enlarge  the 
design  of  the  college  by  providing  for  the  education  of  the  white 
children  of  the  colony. 

Cordial  relations  had  existed  between  the  Indians  and  colonists 
for  sevex'al  years  previous  to  1622.  Powhatan  died  in  1618,  and 
was  succeeded  as  head-chief  of  the  confederacy  by  his  brother 
Opechancanough.  The  latter  was  never  friendly  to  the  whites,  but 
had  been  held  in  restraint  by  Powhatan.  Early  in  1622  Opechan- 
canough secretly  planned  the  destruction  of  the  colony.  He  and 
his  people  had  become  very  restless  and  resentful  as  they  witnessed 
the  growing  strength  of  the  colony  and  saw  the  best  lands  of  the 
Indians  appropriated  by  the  white  settlers.  An  Indian  chief,  to 
whom  the  English  had  given  the  name  of  Jack  of  the  Feather, 
killed  one  of  the  colonists,  and  he  was  killed  by  the  whites  in 
requital.  Opechancanough  and  his  associates  then  formed  a  con- 
spiracy to  destroy  the  entire  colony  on  a  certain  day.  On  the  22nd 
of  March,  1622,  the  Indians  made  a  concerted  attack  upon  the 
colonists,  and  killed  347  persons.  The  red  men  failed  to  accom- 
plish their  fell  purpose,  as  two  thousand  five  himdred  persons  were 
saved  from  the  genex*al  massacre.     However,  the  colonists  were  so 


124  History  of  Tazewell  County 

fearful  of  another  attack  that  they  abandoned  seventy-two  of  their 
plantations  and  huddled  together  on  eight.     They  also  abandoned 
their   college   and   their   infant   manufacturing   establishments,   and 
confined  their  cultivation  of  the   soil   to   such   a  limited  area   that 
enough  food  could  not  be  produced  to  support  the  people.     Again 
much  sickness  and  want  prevailed  in  the  colony.     But  the  London 
Company  came  to  the  partial  relief  of  the  colony  by  sending  over 
supplies  of  food,  and  King  James  sent  them  a  lot  of  old  muskets. 
In  a  short  while  the  colonists  recovered  from  their  panic,  and  sent 
a  military  expedition  of  three  hundred  men  to  punish  the  Indians  for 
the  brutal   massacre  of  the  settlers.      The  natives  fled   from  their 
homes   on   the   approach   of   the   avenging   expedition,   taking   with 
them  most  of  their  corn;  but  the  whites  destroyed  many  of  their 
villages  and  a  great  deal  of  their  property.     At  the  following  ses- 
sion of  the  General  Assemblj'  a  law   was  enacted  which   directed 
that  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  July  the  inhabitants  should  attack 
and  kill  all  savages  in  their  respective  neighborhoods.     This  war  of 
extermination,  or  driving  back  of  the  natives  to  the  wild  forests, 
was   continued   without   intermission   until   a   peace   was   concluded 
with  the   Indians   in    1G32.      By   the  provisions   of  this   treaty  the 
whites  retained  all  the  habitations  and  cleared  lands  they  had  taken 
from  the  natives,  who  were  forced  to  take  refuge  in  the  forests  and 
marshes. 

In  1623  tlie  London  Company  realized  that  the  affairs  of  the 
colony  had  not  been  successfully  managed,  and  sought  to  correct 
the  management  by  a  reorganization  of  the  corporation.  During 
the  sixteen  preceding  years  ten  thousand  persons  had  been  trans- 
ported to  Virginia  and  only  a  little  more  than  two  thousand  remained 
after  the  massacre  by  the  Indians.  From  a  business  standpoint  the 
colony  had  proved  a  decided  failure,  as  the  armual  exports  amounted 
to  no  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  King  James,  who 
was  greatly  displeased  with  the  liberal  democratic  government  the 
company  had  given  the  colonists,  determined  to  annul  the  charter 
and  establish  a  royal  government  in  Virginia.  His  plans  to  this  end 
were  carried  out  through  the  employment  of  five  commissioners,  who 
were  sent  to  Jamestown  to  investigate  the  management  of  the  colony 
from  the  time  the  first  settlement  was  made.  These  commissioners 
were  appointed  by  the  king,  and  were:  John  Harvey,  John  Pory, 
Abraham  Piersey,  Samuel  Matthews  and  John  Jefferson.  They 
were  instructed:  "To  make  more  particular  and  diligent  inquiry 
touching  divers  matters,  which  concerned  the  state  of  Virginia ;  and 


and  Southwest  Virginia  125 

in  order  to  facilitate  the  inquiry,  the  governor  and  council  of  Vir- 
ginia were  ordered  to  assist  the  commissioners,  in  this  scrutiny,  by 
all  their  knowledge  and  influence."  Thus  began  the  artful  scheme 
of  the  crafty  king  to  take  from  the  Virginia  colony  its  right  of 
self-government. 

The  commissioners,  as  appointed,  came  to  Jamestown  and  tried 
to  get  the  General  Assembly  to  petition  the  king  for  a  revocation 
of  the  charter  of  the  company.     Failing  to  secure  the  petition  from 
the  General  Assembly,  the  commissioners  returned  to  England  and 
made  a  false  and  defamatory  report  as  to  existing  conditions  in  Vir- 
ginia.   To  this  report  the  General  Assembly  made  a  spirited  denial 
and  drafted  a  petition  to  the  king  in  which  it  was  prayed,  "that 
the  governors  may  not  have  absolute  power,  and  that  they  might 
still  retain  the  liberty  of  popular  assemblies,  than  which,  nothing 
could  more  conduce  to  the  public  satisfaction  and  public  utility." 
This  petition,  however,  never  reached  King  James,  as  Mr.  Pountis, 
a  member  of  the  Colonial  Council,  to  whose  care  it  was  entrusted, 
died  while  on  his  passage  to  England  to  deliver  it  to  the  king.     The 
king  instituted  quo  warranto  proceedings  in  the  King's  Bench  for 
the  purpose  of  divesting  the  London  Company  of  its  corporate  privi- 
leges  and  powers,   and   for  the   dissolution  of  the  company.      The 
cause  was  tried  at  the  Trinity  Term  of  the  court  in  1624,  and  all 
the   demands  of   King  James   were  granted  by   a   decree  of   Lord 
Chief  Justice  Ley,  who  was  a  mere  creature  of  the  king.     Dissolu- 
tion of  the  company  occasioned  very  little  change  in  the  government 
of  the  colony.     A  committee  was  appointed  by  the  king  to  exercise 
the  functions  previously  performed  by  the  London  Company.     Sir 
Francis  Wyatt  was  reappointed  governor,  and  he  and  his  council 
were  empowered  to  govern  the  colony  "as  fully  and  amply  as  any 
governor  and  council  resident  there,  at  any  time  within  the  space  of 
five  years  last  past".      Strange  to  relate.   King  James   refused  to 
appoint  as  members  of   the  new   council   for  Virginia   any  of  the 
extreme  partisans  of  his  court  faction,  but  selected  men  of  conserva- 
tive views  for  the  government  of  the  colony. 

The  dissolution  of  the  London  Company  did  not  weaken  the 
colony,  but  upon  the  contrary  strengthened  it  by  making  it  more 
self-reliant  and  independent  in  action.  Factional  fights  for  its 
control  by  antagonistic  leaders  of  the  company  had  been  contin- 
uous from  the  date  of  the  first  settlement  at  Jamestown;  and  the 
selection  of  incapable,  and  in  some  instances  very  corrupt,  men  to 
administer  its  affairs  had  greatly  retarded  its  success.     At  first  the 


126  History  of  Tazewell  County 

colonists  were  greatly  alarmed  by  the  dissolution  of  the  company, 
fearing  that  it  might  take  from  them  their  House  of  Burgesses  and 
deprive  them  of  the  already  cherished  form  of  representative  self- 
government.  The  General  Assembly  was  invested  with  both  legisla- 
tive and  judicial  authority  and  had  not  failed  to  exercise  freely 
these  important  functions.  Fiske,  in  "Old  Virginia  and  her  Neigh- 
bors", writes  very  interestingly  about  the  first  American  legislative 
body ;  and  among  other  things  says : 

"The  place  of  meeting  was  the  wooden  church  at  Jamestown, 
50  feet  in  length  by  20  in  width,  built  in  1619,  for  Lord  Delaware's 
church  had  become  dilapidated;  a  solid  brick  church,  56  by  28,  was 
built  there  in  1639.  From  the  different  plantations  and  hundreds 
the  burgesses  came  mostly  in  their  barges  or  sloops  to  Jamestown. 
In  1634  the  colony  was  organized  into  counties  and  parishes,  and 
the  burgesses  thenceforth  represented  counties,  but  they  always 
kept  their  old  title.  At  first  the  governor,  council,  and  burgesses 
met  together  in  a  single  assembly,  just  as  in  Massachusetts  until 
1644,  just  as  in  England  the  Lords  and  Commons  usually  sat 
together  before  1339.  A  member  of  this  Virginia  parliament  must 
take  his  breakfast  of  bacon  and  hoe-cake  betimes,  for  the  meeting 
was  called  at  the  third  beat  of  the  drum,  one  hour  after  sunrise. 
The  sessions  were  always  opened  with  prayers,  and  every  absence 
from  this  service  was  punished  with  a  fine  of  one  shilling.  The 
fine  for  absence  during  the  whole  day  was  half  a  crown.  In  the 
choir  of  the  church  sat  the  governor  and  council,  their  coats  trimmed 
with  gold  lace.  By  the  statute  of  1621,  passed  in  this  very  church, 
no  one  was  allowed  to  wear  gold  lace,  except  these  high  ofiicials 
and  tlie  commanders  of  hundreds,  a  class  of  dignitaries  who  in  1634 
were  succeeded  by  the  county  lieutenants.  In  the  body  of  the 
church,  facing  the  choir,  sat  the  burgesses  in  their  best  attire,  with 
starched  ruffs,  and  coats  of  silk  or  velvet  in  bright  colours.  All  sat 
with  their  hats  on,  in  imitation  of  the  time-honoured  custom  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  an  early  illustration  of  the  democratic 
doctrine,  'I  am  as  good  as  you'.  These  burgesses  had  their  speaker, 
as  well  as  their  clerk  and  sergeant-at-arms.  *  *  *  From  sweep- 
ing principles  of  constitutional  law  down  to  the  pettiest  sumptuary 
edicts,  there  was  nothing  which  this  little  parliament  did  not  super- 
intend and  direct." 

During  the  first  years  of  its  existence  the  House  of  Burgesses. 
in  the  exercise  of  its  very  ample  powers,  enacted  a  number  of 


and  Southwest  Virginia  127 

peculiar  laws.  Some  of  these  laws  were  fundamentally  sound,  some 
were  absurd  in  their  intendment,  and  others  sharply  in  conflict  with 
the  princiijles  of  democratic  government,  toward  which  the  colony, 
even  in  its  early  life,  seemed  to  be  traveling.  The  tax  question  was 
then,  comparatively,  as  momentous  as  it  is  today  with  the  average 
citizen  and  the  aspiring  politician.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembl}',  which  was  passed  without  a  dissenting  voice,  was  a 
declaration,  "that  the  governor  shall  not  lay  any  taxes  or  imposi- 
tions upon  the  colony,  their  lands  or  commodities,  otherway  than 
by  the  authority  of  the  general  assembly,  to  be  levied  and  employed 
as  the  said  assembly  shall  appoint."  This  was  a  wise  protection  of 
the  functions  of  the  legislative  branch  of  the  government  from 
encroachments  by  the  executive  branch  thereof. 

Moved  by  a  humane  and  philanthropic  spirit,  the  assembly  passed 
a  law  looking  to  the  conversion  and  education  of  the  young  savages. 
The  act  provided  for  the  procurement  from  each  borough  of  a  cer- 
tain number  of  Indian  children  to  be  educated  "in  true  religion  and 
a  civil  course  of  life;  of  which  children  the  most  towardly  boys  in 
wit  and  graces  of  nature  are  to  be  brought  up  by  them  in  the  first 
elements  of  literature,  so  as  to  be  fitted  for  the  college  intended  for 
them,  that  from  thence  they  may  be  sent  to  that  work  of  conversion." 
This  was  conforming  to  the  scheme  of  1619  for  establishing  a  col- 
lege in  Henrico  for  the  Indians,  to  which  enterprise  the  Bishops  of 
England  had  contributed  fifteen  thousand  pounds  and  the  London 
Company  10,000  acres  of  land;  and  was  completely  at  variance  with 
the  laws  passed  by  the  assembly,  after  the  frightful  massacre  of 
1622,  encouraging  the  extermination  of  the  Indians. 

Very  rigid  laws  were  enacted  to  prevent  drunkenness,  forbidding 
extravagance  in  dress,  and  to  suppress  flirting,  the  latter  being  con- 
sidered a  very  grave  social  crime.  For  the  first  offence,  a  drunkard 
was  privately  reproved  by  the  minister;  the  second  time  he  was 
publicly  admonished;  for  the  third  offence  he  was  put  in  irons  and 
made  to  pay  a  heavy  fine;  and  for  subsequent  violations  of  the 
statute  he  was  placed  at  the  mercy  of  the  governor  and  the  council, 
who  were  to  pmiish  him  severely  in  their  discretion.  Extravagance 
in  dress  was  made  a  misdemeanor,  for  which  an  unmarried  man  was 
taxed  for  public  purposes  "according  to  his  own  apparel,"  arid  a 
married  man  "accordmg  to  his  own  and  his  wife's  apparel."  In 
these  days,  when  women  have  acquired  the  right  to  vote  in  many  of 
the  States  of  the  Union,  with  the  prospect  of  soon  obtaining  the 
exercise  of  sufirage  in  every  State,  the  average  male  legislator  would 


128  History  of  Tazewell  County 

be  slow  in  voting  for  a  measure  to  regulate  the  dress  of  women^  but 
would  hastily  cast  himself  in  the  midst  of  the  great  temperance  wave 
that  is  sweeping  over  our  country  and  the  entire  civilized  world. 

The  law  against  flirting  declared  that  "every  minister  should 
give  notice  in  his  church  that  what  man  or  woman  soever  should  use 
any  word  or  speech  tending  to  a  contract  of  marriage  to  two  several 
persons  at  one  time  *  *  *  as  might  entangle  or  breed  scruples 
in  their  consciences,  should  for  such  their  offenses  either  undergo 
corporal  correction  (by  whipping)  or  be  punished  by  fine  or  other- 
wise, according  to  the  qualit}'  of  the  person  so  offending."  Possibly 
this  law  was  suited  to  the  times,  but  it  would  now  be  regarded  as  a 
disgrace  to  any  civilized  community  j  and  the  act  was  particularly 
obnoxious  for  the  reason  that  the  punishment  to  be  inflicted  was 
measured  "according  to  the  quality  of  the  person  so  offending." 
The  common  folks  were  to  be  whipped  and  the  gentle  people  were 
to  be  fined. 

To  say  anything  offensive  about  the  governor  or  a  member  of 
the  council  was  a  misdemeanor,  for  which  the  offender  was  placed  in 
the  pillory.  The  planters  were  not  allowed  to  sell  any  part  of  their 
tobacco  crops  until  they  had  put  aside  a  certain  portion  for  the 
minister's  salary.  There  was  a  law  which  said  "No  man  shall 
disparage  a  mynister  whereby  the  myndes  of  his  parishioners  may  be 

alienated  from  him  and  his  mynistrie  prove  less  effectuall  upon 
payne  of  seveere  censure  of  the  governor  and  councell."  From  the 
class  of  "mynisters",  then  inflicted  upon  the  colony  it  would  seem 
that  they  were  worthy  subjects  for  disjjaraging  remarks.  At  least 
the  General  Assemblj^  must  have  tliought  so,  as  it  was  necessary  for 
that  august  body  to  give  warning  to  the  clergyman  by  a  statute 
which  said:  "Mynisters  shall  not  give  themselves  to  excess  in  drink- 
ing or  ryote,  spending  their  time  idelie  by  day  or  night  playing  at 
dice,  cards,  or  any  unlawfuU  game."  Evidently  the  "mynisters" 
were  more  at  home  in  the  tavern  or  at  the  gambling  table  than  in 
the  pulpit. 

In  recent  years  there  has  been  much  controversy  over  the  ques- 
tion of  government  regulation  of  the  sale  of  food  products  and  other 
articles.  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Virginia  colony  exercised 
that  power  without  its  authority  to  do  so  being  questioned.  A  law 
was  made  fixing  retail  prices  for  wines  and  other  liquors.  The 
preamble  of  the  act  said:  "Whereas  there  hath  been  great  abuse 
by  the  unreasonable  rates  enacted  by  ordinary  keepers,  and  retaylers 
of   wine   and   strong  waters",   and   the   assembly   proceeded   to   fix 


and  Southwest  Virginia  129 

maximum  prices  for  these  commodities.     The  per\alty  for  a  violation 
of  the  law  was  a  fine  of  double  tlie  rate  cliarged  by  the  venders. 

The  House  of  Burgesses  also  passed  a  very  stringent  law  to 
suppress  the  speculators,  or  as  they  were  then  called  "forestallers", 
in  foodstuffs  and  other  necessary  articles.     The  act  said:     "What- 
soever person  or  persons  shall  buy  or  cause  to  be  bought  any  mar- 
chandize,  victualls,  or  any  other  thinge,  comminge  by  land  or  water 
to  markett  to  be  sold  or  make  any  bargaine,  contract  or  promise  for 
the  haveinge  or  buyinge  of   the  same     *     *     *     before  the  said 
marchandize,    victualls,   or   other   thinge    shall   be    at   the   markett 
readie  to  be  sold;  or  make  any  motion  by  word,  letter  or  message 
or  otherwise  to  any  person  or  persons  for  the  enhansing  of  the  price 
or  dearer  sellinge  of  any  thinge  or  thinges  above  mentioned,  or  else 
disswade,  move  or  stirr  any  person  or  persons  cominge  to  the  mar- 
kett as  aforesayd,  shall  be  deemed  and  adjudged  a  forestaller.    And 
if  any  person  or  persons  shall  offend  in  the  thinges  before  recited 
and  being  thereof  duly  convicted  or  attaynted  shall  for  liis  or  theire 
first  offence  suffer  imprisonment  by  the  space  of  two  monthes  with- 
out baile  or  maineprize,  and  shall  also  loose  and  forfeite  the  value 
of  the  goods  so  by  him  or  them  bought  or  had  as  aforesayed;  and 
for  the  second  offence     *     *     *     shall  suffer  imprisonment  by  the 
space  of  one  halfe  yeare     *     *     *     shall  loose  the  double  value  of 
all    goods     *     *     *     soe    bought     *     *     *     and    for    the    third 
offence     *     *     *     shall    be     set    on    the    pilorie     *     *     *     and 
loose  and  forfeit  all  the  goods  and  chattels  that  he  or  they  then  have 
to  their  owne  use,  and  also  be  committed  to  prison,  there  to  remayne 
duringe  the  Governors  pleasure." 

This  act  was  very  drastic  but  not  too  severe.  It  was  directed 
against  monsters  concealed  in  human  forms,  vampires  who  dared  to 
call  themselves  men,  but  who  did  not  scruple  to  sacrifice  the  comfort 
and  life  of  men,  women,  and  children  to  gratify  their  greed  of  gold. 
■  The  greatest  present  menace  to  the  life  and  happiness  of  the 
American  people  comes  from  "forestallers"— speculators  and  extor- 
tioners—who infest  our  land,  and  who  are  plying  their  wretched 
trade,  despite  any  feeble  endeavor  made  by  the  Federal  and  State 
governments  to  fasten  punishment  upon  them.  It  would  be  well  for 
the  suffering  public  if  the  Old  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses  could 
return  to  exercise  its  legislative  functions  and  supply  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  with  quaint  but  effective  laws  to  suppress  the 
worst  of  criminals. 

T.H.-9 


130  History  of  Tazewell  County 

CHAPTER  IV. 

FROM  DEATH  OF  JAMES  I  TO  1676. 

On  the  27th  of  March,  1625,  King  James  I.  died,  after  an 
unpopular  reign  of  twenty-two  years.  He  was  succeeded  by  his 
son,  Charles  I.,  who  had  no  more  regard  for  the  political  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  Virginia  colonists  than  he  showed  for  his  subjects 
in  England.  But  the  General  Assembly,  when  infoi-med  of  the  death 
of  King  James,  sent  Sir  George  Yeardley,  then  a  member  of  the 
council,  as  an  envoy  to  England  to  present  their  respects  to  King 
Charles;  and  to  give  him  assurance  that  the  Virginians  were  satis- 
fied with  the  government  his  father  had  given  them.  The  request 
was  presented  that  no  change  be  made  in  their  very  liberal  form  of 
government;  and  in  1626  Sir  George  Yeardley  was  appointed  gov- 
ernor of  Virginia,  which  satisfied  the  colonists  that  their  request 
had  been  favorably  received  by  their  sovereign.  All  through  his 
reign  of  twenty-five  years,  Charles  was  involved  in  such  bitter  strife 
with  Parliament  and  his  Scotch  and  English  subjects  that  he  could 
give  but  little  attention  to  the  Virginia  colony. 

Within  a  period  of  twenty  years  the  colony  had  three  forms  of 
government.  When  the  settlement  was  first  made  at  Jamestown 
its  nature  was  that  of  a  Proprietary  Government,  and  it  so  remained 
until  the  second  charter  was  obtained  in  1609  by  the  London  Com- 
pany. It  then  became  a  Corporation,  and  continued  as  such  under 
the  third  charter  until  the  company  was  dissolved  by  a  decree  of 
the  Court  of  King's  Bench  in  1624,  when  it  was  made  a  Royal 
Province.  Soon  after  ascending  the  throne,  Charles  I.  appointed 
William  Claiborne  secretary  of  state  for  the  colony,  and  in  Clai- 
borne's commission  designated  it  "Our  Kingdom  of  Virginia."  It 
may  be  gratifying  to  some  Virginians  of  tlais  day,  who  are  charmed 
with  royalty  and  the  degenerate  European  nobility,  to  know  that 
for  about  a  quarter  of  a  century  Virginia  was  recognized  as  a 
Kingdom  by  an  English  monarch. 

The  administration  of  justice  when  the  colony  was  first  estab- 
lished was  lodged  with  the  president  and  council;  and  after  a 
governor  was  substituted  for  the  president  all  judicial  authority  was 
vested  in  the  governor  and  his  council.  This  was  a  very  dangerous 
power  to  place  with  a  single  man,  who  might  prove  himself  either  a 
knave  or  a  fool  and  trample  upon  justice,  rather  than  uphold  and 
vindicate  the  rights  of  the  people.     In  1628-29,  commissions  were 


and  Southwest  Virginia  131 

issued  to  justices  or  magistrates  to  hold  monthly  courts  in  each  of 
the  boroughs  or  hundreds.  These  courts  were  the  origin  of  the  old 
county  courts  that  administered  justice  in  the  counties  of  Virginia 
until  the  Constitution  of  1870  was  put  in  operation. 

Fi-om   "Acts  made  by  the  Grand  Assemblie   Holden  at  James 
City  the  21st,  August,  1633,"  we  find  that  the  colony  had  then  so 
extended  its  limits  and  had  become  so  permanently  planted  as  to 
require  the  establishment  of  a  county  or  shire  system  of  government. 
Consequently  an  Act  was  passed  by  the  "Grand  Assemblie",  creat- 
ing eight  shires  and  they  were  given  the  following  names:  James 
City,  Henrico,  Charles  City,  Elizabeth  City,  Warwick  River,  War- 
rosquyoak,   Charles    River,  Accawmack.      These   shires   were  to  be 
organized  and  governed  in  the  same  manner  as  the  shires  in  Eng- 
land; and  they  were  subsequently  desigTiated  and  conducted  as  coun- 
ties.    Their  original  boundaries  cannot  be  ascertained,  despite  the 
most   diligent   researclies   of   archivists   and   historians.      But  their 
location  is  known  from  the  counties  that  now  bear  the  same  name, 
to-wit:  James  City,  Henrico,  Charles  City,  Elizabeth  City,  Warwick, 
York  (Charles  River)  and  Acoomac.   At  a  Grand  Assemblie,  Holden 
at  James  City,  the  2nd  day  of  March  1 642-3,  the  following  act  was 
passed:     "Be  it  further  enacted  and  confirmed  that  the  plantation 
and  county  knownc  now  by  the  name  of  Acomack  shall  be  knowne 
and  called  by  the  county  of  Northampton.     It  is  likewise  enacted 
and  confirmed  that  Charles  River  County  shall  be  distinguished  by 
this  name   (County  of  York).     And  that  Warwick  River  shall  be 
called  the  County  of  Warwick."      From  that  time  all  counties  in 
Virginia  were  created  by  special  acts  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Early  in  1642  Sir  William  Berkeley  was  appointed  governor  of 
Virginia  by  Charles  I.  About  the  same  time  the  London  Company 
sought  to  regain  control  of  the  colony  by  a  petition  directed  to 
Parliament.  The  General  Assembly  met  and  made  a  strong  protest 
against  the  restoration  of  the  company,  avowing  that  control  by 
the  corporation  would  be  very  detrimental  to  the  welfare  of  the 
colony.  Speaking  of  the  written  protest  sent  by  the  assembly  to 
the  king,  Howe,  in  his  History  of  Virginia,  says:  "This  paper  is 
drawn  with  great  ability,  and  sets  forth  the  objections  to  the  peti- 
tion in  very  strong  and  striking  terms.  They  enlarge  especially 
upon  the  wish  and  the  power  of  the  company  to  monopolize  their 
trade ;  the  advantage  and  happiness  secured  to  them  by  their  present 
form  of  government,  with  its  annual  assemblies  and  trial  by  jury; 
the  fact,  that  a  restitution  of  the  power  of  the  company  would  be  an 
admission  of  the  illegality  of  the  king's  authority,  and  a  consequent 


132 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


nullification  of  the  grants  and  commissions ;  and  the  impossibility 
of  men,  however  wise,  at  such  a  distance,  and  unacquainted  with 
the  climate  or  condition  of  the  country,  to  govern  the  colony  as  well 
as  it  could  be  governed  by  their  own  Grand  Assembly."  The  king 
was  so  favorably  impressed  with  the  spirit  and  force  of  the  protest 
that  he  refused  to  cx)nsent  to  any  change  in  the  form  of  government 
that  had  brought  so  much  hapijiness  to  the  colonists. 


The  above  shows  all  that  remains  of  the  city  of  Jamestown — the  loiinetl 
tower  of  the  brick  church  built  in  1639. 

In  l(31'i  the  colony  suffered  from  another  massacre  by  the 
Indians.  The  natives  had  been  driven  away  from  their  homes  on 
the  borders  of  the  rivers  in  the  tidewater  section,  where  the  lands 
were  fertile  and  easily  tilled,  and  were  forced  to  struggle  for  a 
precarious  existence  in  the  highlands,  where  the  soil  was  thin.  They 
Iiad  been  greatly  reduced  in  numbers  by  the  policy  of  extermination 
which  the  House  of  Burgesses  had  inaugurated  shortly  after  the 
dreadful  massacre  of  1622.  Those  who  had  fled  to  the  interior  for 
safety  had  become  more  skilled  in  warfare,  and  were  made  desperate 
by  the  continued  encroachments  of  the  settlers,  who  were  forcing 


and  Southwest  Virginia  133 

tliem  still  fui-ther  away  from  the  homes  they  and  their  fathei'S  had 
occupied  so  happily  for  many  years.  Opechancanough,  Powhatan's 
brother  and  successor,  had  grown  so  old  that  lie  had  to  be  carried 
about  on  a  litter,  and  he  was  so  weak  that  he  could  not  raise  his 
eyelids  witliout  assistance;  but  his  mental  faculties  were  so  well 
preserved  that  he  was  able  to  gather  all  the  tribes  of  the  confederacy 
together,  without  being  discovered,  and  make  a  concerted  attack  on 
the  colonists.  On  the  18th  of  April,  1(M<4<,  the  day  appointed  for 
the  massacre,  the  Indians  made  their  attack  on  the  frontier  settle- 
ments and  killed  three  hundred  persons.  Owing  to  their  greatly 
reduced  number  of  warriors  and  the  increased  number  of  the 
colonists,  the  strength  of  the  hostile  Indians  was  soon  broken. 
Recalling  the  terrible  reprisals  the  whites  had  made  upon  them  fol- 
lowing the  massacre  of  1622,  the  natives  fled  in  dismay  to  the  remote 
thick  forests.  Opechancanough  was  made  a  cajotive  by  Sir  William 
Berkelej',  who  had  run  the  Indians  down  with  a  squadron  of  cavalry. 
The  old  chief  was  imprisoned  at  Jamestown,  where  he  was  brutally 
murdered  by  a  cowardly  soldier  who  was  guarding  him.  Soon 
after  this  deplorable  incident  Governor  Berkeley  sailed  for  England, 
where  he  remained  for  a  year,  and  upon  his  return  to  Jamestown  he 
negotiated  a  treaty  in  1646  Mith  Necotowance,  who  had  succeeded 
Opechancanough  as  chief  of  the  remnant  of  the  Powhatan  Confed- 
eracy. The  Indians  made  a  complete  submission  to  the  whites  and 
ceded  such  lands  as  were  demanded.  From  that  time,  being  at 
peace  with  tlie»natives,  with  an  abundance  of  fertile  lands,  and  free 
markets  for  their  tobacco,  the  colony  was  very  prosperous  and  grew 
rapidly.  Their  ports  were  visited  by  the  ships  of  the  leading  com- 
mercial nations,  and  historians  say  that,  "At  Christmas  1648,  there 
were  trading  in  Virginia  ten  ships  from  London,  two  from  Bristol, 
twelve  Hollanders  and  seven  from  New  England." 

The  number  of  the  colonists  had  grown  to  twenty  thousand,  but 
they  were  so  much  occupied  with  their  own  affairs  that  they  could 
give  but  little  attention  to  the  bitter  and  bloody  struggles  that  were 
taking  place  in  England  between  the  royalists  and  the  Parliament. 
But  when  Charles  I.  was  beheaded,  in  1619,  the  Virginia  Govern- 
ment recognized  his  son  Charles  II.  as  their  sovereign;  and  "Vir- 
ginia was  whole  for  monarchy,  and  the  last  country  belonging  to 
England  that  submitted  to  obedience  to  the  commonwealth."  Being 
struck  with  horror  at  the  monstrous  crime  of  the  Parliament  that 
had  beheaded  their  king,  numbers  of  the  nobility,  gentry,  and  clergy 
fled  from  England  and  found  generous  welcome  and  safe  asylum 


134  History  of  Tazewell  County 

in  Virginia.  "The  mansion  and  the  purse  of  Berkeley  were  open  to 
sdl,  and  at  the  hospitable  dwellings  that  were  scattered  along  the 
rivers  and  among  the  wilds  of  Virginia,  the  Cavaliers,  exiles  like 
their  monarch,  met  in  frequent  groups  to  recount  tlieir  toils,  to 
sigh  over  defeats,  and  to  nourish  loyalty  and  hope."  Thus  were 
the  English  Cavaliers  introduced  into  Tidewater  Virginia  in  such 
numbers  as  to  win  for  the  State  in  coming  years  the  name  of  Land 
of  the  Cavaliers. 

Sir  William  Berkeley,  in  recognition  of  his  loyalty,  was  recom- 
missioned  governor  by  Charles  II.  The  fidelity  of  the  Virginians 
to  the  royal  cause  was  resented  by  Parliament ;  and  the  Council  of 
State,  of  which  Oliver  Cromwell  was  the  leading  spirit,  was  ordered 
to  take  steps  for  bringing  the  rebellious  colonies  into  obedience  to 
the  authority  of  the  new  republican  English  Government.  Pavlii- 
ment  passed  a  law  to  prevent  foreign  ships  entering  and  trading 
at  any  of  the  ports  "in  Barbadoes,  Antigua,  Bermudas  and  Vir- 
ginia." This  law  would  have  practically  destroyed  the  foreign 
trade  of  the  colony;  but  it  was  found  so  damaging  to  commerce 
that  it  was  repealed  before  the  authority  of  the  Parliament  was 
acknowledged  in  Virginia.  The  Virginians  were  so  confident  of 
their  ability  to  defj''  the  autliority  of  Parliament  that  Governor 
Berkeley,  speaking  for  the  colonists,  wrote  to  Charles  II.,  then  in 
exile  at  Breda,  inviting  him  to  come  to  Virginia  and  establish  his 
Kingdom  in  America. 

Parliament  determined  to  bring  into  subjection  tlie  colonies  that 
were  adhering  to  the  royalists.  A  large  fleet  and  a  considerable 
number  of  soldiers  were  sent  out  to  make  the  rebellious  colonists 
acknowledge  allegiance  to  the  Commonwealth.  The  fleet  sailed 
first  to  Barbadoes  and  Antigua,  and  after  bringing  those  two 
colonies  into  submission,  unannounced,  arrived  at  and  anchored 
before  Jamestown.  Anticipating  such  a  movement,  Governor  Berke- 
ley and  the  colonists  had  made  preparations  to  resist  the  Common- 
wealth's military  and  naval  expedition;  but  the  commissioners  sent 
by  Parliament  along  with  the  fleet  offered  such  fair  and  liberal  terms_ 
that  the  Virginians  accepted  the  proposed  articles  of  surrender. 
So  far  as  self-government  was  concerned  the  colony  was  placed  in 
a  better  situation  than  it  had  ever  occupied  under  the  royal  govern- 
ments. 

Sir  William  Berkeley,  who  remained  a  royalist  in  heart,  declined 
to  hold  the  governorship  under  the  Parliament,  and  Richard  Bennett, 
a  Roundhead,  and  who  was  one  of  the  Virginia  Council,  was  elected 


and  Southwest  Virginia  135 

governor.  A  council  was  also  elected  by  the  assembly,  with  powers 
to  conform  to  any  instructions  they  might  receive  from  the  Parlia- 
ment. Bennett's  conduct  of  the  government  was  so  honest  and 
liberal  that  it  was  approved  by  both  the  colonists  and  the  Parlia- 
ment; and  when  he  retired  from  office  in  1656,  Edward  Diggs  was 
elected  his  successor.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that  Cromwell  never 
made  any  appointments  of  officers  for  Virginia  during  his  protec- 
torate; but  encouraged  the  colony  to  become  as  nearly  self-govern- 
ing as  possible. 

On  the  20th  of  April,  1653,  Oliver  Cromwell  dissolved,  or 
rather  dispersed  with  his  soldiers,  the  notorious  Rump  Parliament, 
and  thence  forward  he  became  supreme  ruler  of  England  until  his 
death  in  1658.  He  grasped  power  and  ignored  the  exasperating 
assumptions  of  Parliaments,  only  because  he  sought  to  promote  in 
the  speediest  and  surest  way  the  prosperity,  happiness  and  glory 
of  his  country.  Under  his  administration  as  Lord  Protector,  he 
proved  himself  England's  greatest  ruler.  His  home  policies  were 
liberal  and  just,  ever  looking  to  the  elevation  of  the  masses,  while 
his  foreign  policies  were  of  such  a  nature  as  to  secure  for  England 
a  more  commanding  position  among  other  nations  than  she  had  ever 
occupied.  Virginia,  and  all  the  English  colonies  in  America,  made 
wonderful  progress  under  Cromwell's  liberal  and  able  rule.  He 
died  on  September  the  3rd,  1658,  and  was  succeeded  as  Lord 
Protector  by  his  son,  Richard.  The  General  Assembly  of  Virginia, 
after  maturely  considering  the  matter,  recognized  Richard  Cromwell 
as  their  ruler.  He  was  a  man  of  mediocre  intellect,  idolent  by 
nature,  and  entirely  unqualified  to  occupy  the  position  his  father 
had  filled  with  such  distinction.  During  his  feeble  administration, 
which  was  for  a  little  more  than  seven  months,  Virginia  was  left 
free  to  conduct  her  own  affairs.  The  General  Assembly  had 
elected  Samuel  Matthews  governor  in  1658,  and  he  died  shortly 
after  Richard  Cromwell  was  removed  as. Lord  Protector. 

Sir  William  Berkeley  was  re-elected  governor  in  1660,  and  the 
General  Assembly  by  enactment  declared  "that  the  supreme  power 
of  the  government  of  this  country  shall  be  resident  in  the  assembly ; 
and  all  writs  shall  issue  in  its  name  until  there  shall  arrive  from 
England  a  commission,  which  the  assembly  itself  shall  adjudge  to 
be  lawful."  This  action  was  taken  to  prevent  the  governor  from 
assuming  authority  to  control  the  conduct  of  the  General  Assembly 
as  Governor  Matthews  had  previously  attempted. 

After  the  death  of  Cromwell  the  desire  of  the  English  people 


136  History  of  Tazewell  County 

for  a  settled  government  lead  to  the  restoration  of  the   House  of 
Stuart;  and  Charles  II.  returned  to  England,  landing  at  Dover  on 
the  26th  of  Ma}',   1660.      He  ascended  the  throne  amid  the  joyful 
acclamations  of  the  royalists,  and  for  twenty-iive  years  the  profligate 
monarch  gave  his  coiuitry  the  most  disgraceful  government  it  ever 
had  to  endure.     Virginia  promptly  after  the  restoration  annoimced 
allegiance  to  the  new  king;  and  one  of  his  first  acts  in  connection 
with  the  colony  was  to  give  recognition  to  Sir  William  Berkeley  by 
re-appointing  him  governor.      Berkeley  made  himself  as  abnoxious 
to  the  colonists   during  his   second  term  of  office   as  he  had  been 
popular  with  them  when  first  serving  as  governor.     It  was  largely 
tlue  to  liis  arbitrary   and   haughty   conduct   that   Bacon's   Rebellion 
was  brought  about  in  1676.  which  occurred  just  one  hundred  years 
before   the    Revolution.      In    fact,   the   more   appropriate   name   for 
the   uprising  of   Nathaniel   Bacon   and   his    fellow-colonists   against 
the   oppressions   of  the   royal   and  local   government   is   revolution. 
It    was    essentially    a    revolt    against    the   despotic    course    of    King 
Charles,  supplemented  by  that  of  the  local  government.     Virginia 
had  reached  a  stage  where  she  was  content  to  have  the  protection 
but  not  the  despotic  control  of  England.     Parliament  had,  by  its 
commissioners,   pledged   a    preservation    of    all    the   privileges    and 
immunities    the    colony    had    acquired    under    the    jDrotectorates    of 
Oliver  Cromwell   and   his   son   Richard.      There  were  a  number  of 
grievances  that  aroused  popular  discontent.     One  was  the  enactment 
of  a  navigation  law  which   prohibited  the   colonists   from   trading 
with   foreign  countries,  and   requiring  them  to  confine  their  trade 
exclusively  to  England.     The  object  of  this  law  was  to  enrich  the 
English  merchants  and  increase  the  revenues  of  the  king,  at  the 
expense  of  the  colony.     This  was  an  early  manifestation  of  Eng- 
land's insatiable  commercial  greed;  and  it  is  as  pronounced  today 
as  it  was  when  Charles  II.  had  his  mean  navigation  act  foisted  upon 
the   American    colonies.      A    remonstrance    against   the    outrageous 
measure  was  prepared  and  dispatched  to   King  Charles.      Failing 
to  secure  a  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  measure,  the  colonists  had  the 
will  and  courage  to  trade  with  all  foreign  ships  and  merchants  who 
were  willing  to  take  the  risk  of  having  their  cargoes  captured  on 
the  high  seas  by  English  cruisers. 

There  were  other  grievances  which  were  even  more  potential 
for  inciting  revolt  against  the  English  and  the  Colonial  govern- 
ments. These  were  burdensome  and  unequal  taxation  and  arbitrary 
restrictions  of  the  right  of  suffrage.     The  taxes  were  so  levied  as 


and  Southwest  Virginia  137 

to  bear  heavily  upon  the  poorer  members  of  the  eoh)ny ;  and  by  an 
act  of  the  House  of  Ikirgesses,  passed  in  1(570,  the  rights  of  suffrage 
and  of  membership  in  the  legislature  were  restricted  to  freeholders. 
Speaking  of  these  unjust  and  oppressive  laws,  Howe,  in  his  inter- 
esting History  of  Virginia,  says: 

"But  these  evils  in  domestic  legislation  were  trivial,  compared 
with  those  produced  by  the  criminal  prodigality  of  Charles,  who 
wantonly  made  exorbitant  grants  to  his  favorites  of  large  tracts  of 
lands,  without  a  knowledge  of  localities,  and  consequently  without 
regard  to  the  claims  or  even  the  settlements  of  others.  To  cap  the 
climax  of  royal  munificence,  the  gay  monarch,  in,  perhaps,  a  merry 
mood,  granted  to  Lords  Culpeper  and  Arlington  the  whole  colony 
of  Virginia,  for  thirty-one  years,  with  privileges  effectually  royal 
as  far  as  the  colony  was  concerned,  only  reserving  some  mark  of 
homage  to  himself.  This  might  be  considered  at  court,  perhaps, 
as  a  small  bounty  to  a  favorite,  but  was  taken  in  a  very  serious 
light  by  the  forty  thousand  people  thus  unceremoniously  transferred. 
The  Assembly  in  its  extravagance,  only  took  from  them  a  great 
proportion  of  their  profits;  but  the  king  was  filching  their  capital, 
their  lands,  and  their  homes,  which  they  had  inherited  from  their 
fathers,  or  laboriously  acquired  by  their  own  strenuous  exertion." 


138  History  of  Tazewell  County 

CHAPTER  V. 

bacon's   rebellion,   and   discovery   of   SHENANDOAH   VALLEY. 

Nathaniel  Bacon,  tlien  about  twenty-eight  years  old,  was  living 
on  his  jDlantation  on  the  James,  near  Curl's  Wharf.  He  was  an 
Englishman  by  birth  and  raising,  had  been  educated  as  a  lawyer, 
and  had  emigrated  witli  his  young  wife  to  Virginia  a  few  years 
previous;  and  had  shown  such  talent  that  he  had  already  been  made 
a  member  of  the  Colonial  Council.  Bacon  was  a  man  of  resolute 
purpose,  fine  personal  appearance,  and  of  republican  convictions. 
The  Susquehannock  Indians,  from  Maryland  and  Delaware,  who 
were  of  the  Iroquoian  stock,  had  been  making  incursions  into  Vir*- 
ginia  and  attacking  exposed  settlements.  This  had  made  Bacon 
very  hostile  to  the  Indians,  and  in  a  moment  of  anger  he  had 
declared:  "If  the  redskins  meddle  with  me,  damn  my  blood  but  I'll 
harry  them,  commission  or  no  commission."  Governor  Berkeley 
on  the  other  hand  was  anxious  to  stay  at  peace  with  the  Indians, 
and  had  announced  that  he  would  not  give  a  commission  to  any  one 
to  march  with  an  armed  force  against  the  savages.  In  May,  1676, 
the  Indians  made  an  attack  upon  Bacon's  upper  plantation,  where 
Richmond  is  now  located,  and  killed  his  overseer  and  one  of  his 
servants.  When  it  became  known  at  Curl's  Wharf,  the  planters  in 
the  vicinity  armed  themselves  and  offered  to  accompany  Bacon  on 
an  expedition  against  the  Indians.  He  dispatched  a  messenger  to 
Berkeley  and  requested  a  commission  to  lead  the  expeditionary 
force,  and  received  from  the  governor  an  evasive  answer.  Bacon 
sent  him  a  courteous  note,  thanking  him  for  the  commission,  and 
without  delay  started  with  a  mounted  force  of  the  planters  to  make 
war  on  the  redskins.  They  had  marched  but  a  few  miles  when 
the)'^  were  overtaken  by  a  messenger  with  a  proclamation  from 
Governor  Berkeley,  commanding  the  party  to  disperse.  A  few  of 
the  men  obeyed,  but  Bacon  and  the  others  continued  their  march, 
came  upon  the  Indians,  and  gave  them  a  severe  defeat.  In  the 
meantime  Berkeley  had  started  with  a  troop  of  cavalry  in  pursuit 
of  the  Bacon  party,  but  the  governor  was  recalled  to  Jamestown 
by  intelligence  that  the  planters  of  the  York  peninsula  were  in 
revolt.  Upon  his  return  to  Jamestown,  the  governor  dissolved  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  then  in  session,  and  issued  writs  for  the 
election  of  a  new  assembly.     Bacon  became  a  candidate  to  represent 


and  Southwest  Virginia  139 

Henrico  Count}\,  and  he  was  elected  by  a  heavy  majority,  the 
people  being  in  sympathy  with  his  views  on  the  several  vital  ques- 
tions then  engaging  the  attention  of  the  colonj'.  When  the  time 
came  for  the  assembling  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  Bacon,  with 
thirty  folloMcrs,  journeyed  to  Jamestown;  and  upon  his  arrival  he 
was  arrested  by  orders  of  the  governor  and  taken  before  that  digni- 
tary, wlio  rebuked  and  then  pardoned  the  young  rebel.  In  a  spirit 
of  compromise,  Bacon  was  reluctantly  induced  to  admit  at  the  bar 
of  the  assembly  that  he  had  acted  illegally  in  marching  against  the 
Indians  without  a  commission  from  the  governor ;  whereupon,  Berke- 
ley extended  his  forgiveness  to  Bacon  and  all  the  men  who  had 
accompanied  him  on  his  expedition  against  the  Indians. 

The  General  Assembly  had  not  been  long  in  session  until  a 
struggle  began  between  that  body  and  the  governor,  the  latter 
demanding  that  the  assembly  confine  its  legislation  exclusively  to 
Indian  affairs.  But  the  assembly,  defiantly  and  resolutely,  went 
to  work  to  relieve  the  people  from  the  evils  that  had  been  oppressing 
them.  They  restored  universal  suffrage;  repealed  an  odious  law 
which  exempted  councillors  and  their  families  and  the  families  of 
clergymen  from  taxation;  abolished  trade  monopolies;  made  pro- 
vision for  a  general  inspection  of  public  expenses  and  the  careful 
auditing  of  public  accounts,  and  enacted  a  number  of  other  reform 
measures. 

Nathaniel  Bacon  had  been  an  active  worker  for  reform  legisla- 
tion, and  had  also  made  insistent  application  for  a  commission  to 
resume  hostilities  against  the  unfriendly  Indians,  who  continued  to 
make  depredations  upon  the  outlying  settlements.  These  acts  of 
the  young  patriot  so  angered  Governor  Berkeley  that  he  not  only 
refused  to  give  Bacon  a  commission  but  made  secret  plans  for  his 
arrest  and  trial  upon  a  charge  of  treason.  Friends  warned  Bacon 
that  his  life  would  be  endangered  if  he  remained  longer  at  James- 
town, and  he  secretly  left  that  place  in  the  night  time.  He  repaired 
to  his  plantation  at  Curl's  Wharf  and  organized  a  force  of  six 
hundred  men.  With  this  small  but  resolute  band  of  followers  he 
marched  upon  Jamestown;  and  on  the  afternoon  of  a  sultry  day  in 
June  halted  his  men  on  the  green  in  front  of  the  State  House. 
With  a  small  detail  of  soldiers  he  advanced  to  the  door  of  the 
building  in  which  the  governor  and  council  and  the  burgesses  were 
then  sitting.  The  governor,  in  a  towering  rage,  presented  himself 
at  the  door,  and  pulling  open  his  lace  shirt  front  to  bare  his  bosom, 
cried  out  to  Bacon:     "Here  I  am!     Shoot  me!     'Fore  God.  a  fair 


140  History  of  Tazewell  County 

mark,  a  fair  mark — shoot!"  Bacon  stood  calm,  and  politely  replied: 
"No,  may  it  please  your  honor,  we  liave  not  come  to  hurt  a  hair  on 
your  head  or  of  any  man's.  We  are  come  for  a  commission  to  save 
our  lives  from  the  Indians,  which  you  have  so  often  pi-omised,  and 
now  we  will  have  it  before  we  go."  Jt  seems  that  Bacon's  calmness 
was  self-enforced,  for  as  soon  as  Berkeley  retired  with  his  council 
for  a  conference,  the  angry  young  rebel  declared  he  would  kill  them 
all  if  the  commission  demanded  was  not  forthcoming.  His  squad 
of  soldiers  pointed  their  guns  at  the  windows  and  shouted:  "We 
will  have  it!  We  will  liave  it!"  In  response  to  the  cry  of  the 
soldiers,  one  of  the  members  of  the  assembly  waved  from  a  window 
"a  pacific  liandkercher"  and  called  out,  "You  shall  liave  it."  The 
General  Assembly  prepared  and  gave  Bacon  a  commission  as  general 
of  an  army,  and  also  addressed  a  memorial  to  the  king,  setting  forth 
the  wrongs  Bacon  and  his  adherents  were  seeking  to  get  rid  of,  and 
heartily  commending  the  intrepid  j'oung  patriot  for  the  valuable 
services  he  had  rendered  the  colony.  On  the  following  day  the 
governor  was  constrained  to  affix  his  approving  signature  to  the 
commission  and  also  to  the  memorial  to  the  king. 

Governor  Berkeley  promptly  issued  a  proclamation  declaring 
Bacon  and  his  associates  rebels  and  traitors.  He  then  went  to 
Gloucester  County,  where  he  expected  to  find  sufficient  loyal  senti- 
ment among  the  people  to  enable  him  to  cojDe  witli  and  suppress 
the  Bacon  rebellion.  He  found  the  sentiment  in  Gloucester  as 
pronounced  for  the  rebels  as  it  was  at  Jamestown  and  in  other 
localities  of  the  colony.  The  infuriated  old  man  made  his  escape 
across  Chesapeake  Bay  to  Accomac,  where  he  was  protected  by 
loyal  supporters. 

When  Bacon  heard  of  the  harsh  proclamation  of  the  governor, 
he  was  severely  shocked  by  its  accusations  as  to  the  purposes  of 
himself  and  his  followers.  "It  vexed  him  to  the  heart  to  think  that 
while  he  was  hunting  Indian  wolves,  tigers  and  foxes,  which  daily 
destroyed  our  harmless  sheep  and  lambs  that  he  and  those  with  him 
should  be  pursued  with  a  full  cr}',  as  a  more  savage  or  a  no  less 
ravenous  beast."  He  quit  his  hunt  for  the  "Indian  wolves"  and 
hastily  marched  his  men  to  Middle  Plantation,  the  point  where  the 
historic  city  of  Williamsburg  was  afterward  located.  One  of  his 
first  acts  was  the  issuance  of  a  manifesto  in  replj^  to  Berkeley's 
proclamation.  Though  written  in  the  peculiarly  stilted  and  obscure 
style  then  used  by  even  the  most  highly  educated  men,  it  is  an 
eloquent    and    fervid    defence    of    the    young    leader    and    his    com- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  141 

panions  against  the  acrimonious  attacks  of  Governor  Berkley. 
From  the  original  manuscript,  which  is  still  preserved  in  the 
British  State  Paper  office,  the  following  is  quoted: 

"If  virtue  be  a  sin,  if  pietj'  be  guilt,  all  the  principles  of 
morality,  goodness  and  justice  be  perverted,  we  must  confess  that 
those  who  are  now  Rebels  may  be  in  danger  of  those  high  imputa- 
tions. Those  loud  and  several  bulls  would  affright  innocents,  and 
render  the  defence  of  our  brethren  and  the  inquiry  into  our  sad  and 
Iieavy  oppressions  Treason.  But  if  there  be  (as  sure  there  is)  a 
just  God  to  appeal  to,  if  religion  and  justice  be  a  sanctuary  here, 
if  to  plead  the  cause  of  the  oppressed,  if  sincerely  to  aim  at  his 
Majesty's  honour  and  the  public  good  without  any  reservation  or 
by-interest,  if  to  stand  in  the  gap  after  so  much  blood  of  our  dear 
brethren  bought  and  sold,  if  after  the  loss  of  a  great  part  of  his 
Majesty's  colony  deserted  and  dispeopled  freely  with  our  lives  and 
estates  to  endeavour  to  save  the  remainders,  be  treason — God 
Almighty  judge  and  let  guilty  die.  But  since  we  cannot  in  our 
hearts  find  one  single  spot  of  rebellion  or  treason,  or  that  we  have 
in  any  manner  aimed  at  subverting  the  settled  government  or 
attempting  of  the  person  of  any,  either  magistrate  or  private  man. 
notwithstanding  the  several  reproaches  and  threats  of  some  who 
for  sinister  ends  were  disaffected  to  us  and  censured  our  innocent 
and  honest  designs,  and  since  all  people  in  all  places  where  we 
have  yet  been  can  attest  our  civil,  quiet,  peaceable  behaviour,  far 
different  from  that  of  rebellious  and  tumultuous  persons,  let  Truth 
be  bold  and  all  the  world  know  the  real  foundations  of  pretended 
quiet.  We  appeal  to  the  country  itself,  what  and  of  what  nature 
their  oppressions  have  been,  or  by  what  cabal  and  mystery  the 
designs  of  many  of  those  whom  we  call  great  men  have  transacted 
and  carried  on.  But  let  us  trace  these  men  in  authority  and  favour 
to  whose  hands  the  dispensation  of  the  country's  wealth  has  been 
committed." 

Tliis  splendid  protest  of  Nathaniel  Bacon  against  the  assump- 
tions and  oppressions  of  a  profligate  king  remained  a  glowing  spark 
on  the  plains  of  Williamsburg  for  one  hundred  years;  and  then 
burst  forth  into  a  consuming  flame  when  George  Mason  presented 
to  the  Virginia  fathers  the  greatest  charter  of  human  liberty  ever 
penned  by  man,  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights.  Bacon  sounded  the 
first  aeolian  notes  for  American  freedom ;  and  INlason  and  Jefferson 
caught  up  the  strain,  and  in  glorious,  swelling,  undying  tones 
chanted  it  to  an  enslaved  world. 


142  History  of  Tazewell  County 

The  manifesto  of  Bacon  was  a  protest  against  the  oppressive 
and  corrupt  acts  of  the  men  in  authority  wliom  he  designated  as 
"juggling  parisites  whose  tottering  fortunes  have  been  repaired  at 
the  public  cliarge."  Grave  accusations  were  made  against  the 
official  and  personal  conduct  of  Sir  William  Berkeley.  He  was 
charged  with  levying  unjust  taxes  upon  the  common  people  for 
the  benefit  of  his  private  favorites  and  for  other  sinister  ends ;  with 
failure  to  protect  the  colony  by  fortifications,  and  neglecting  to 
advance  its  commercial  interests.  And  he  was  also  accused  of 
bringing  "the  majesty  of  justice"  into  contempt  by  placing  in 
judicial  positions  men  who  were  "scandalous  and  ignorant  fav- 
ourites." Another  serious  accusation  was.  that  the  governor  had 
monojjolized  the  beaver  trade,  and  for  the  purpose  of  "that  unjust 
gain,"  had  "bartered  and  sold  his  Majesty's  country  and  the  lives 
of  his  loyal  subjects  to  the  barbarous  heathen."  The  manifesto 
named  nineteen  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  the  colony  as  Berke- 
ley's "wicked  and  pernicious  councellors,  aiders  and  assisters  against 
the  commonality  in  these  our  cruel  commotions."  Some  of  the 
names  mentioned  were  those  of  Sir  Henry  Chicheley,  Richard  Lee, 
Robert  Beverly  and  Nicholas  Spencer.  The  paper  closed  with  a 
demand  that  all  the  persons  mentioned  be  arrested  and  placed  in 
confinement  at  the  Middle  Plantation  until  further  orders.  On 
account  of  their  apparent  truth,  these  charges  were  very  galling 
to  Berkeley,  and  sharpened  his  appetite  for  revenge  upon  his 
accusers.  -    ^ 

After  lie  had  promulgated  his  manifesto,  Bacon  called  a  con- 
vention of  tlie  most  notable  men  identified  with  the  rebellion  to 
formulate  plans  for  making  it  effective.  The  meeting  was  held  at 
the  Middle  Plantation  on  the  3rd  of  August,  1676,  and  the  con- 
vention declared  the  governorship  was  vacant  because  of  the  abdica- 
tion of  Sir  William  Berkeley,  and  that  the  council  should  fill  the 
vacancy  until  action  could  be  taken  by  the  king.  Five  members  of 
the  council  also  issued  writs  for  the  election  of  a  new  House  of 
Burgesses.  An  agreement  was  drawn  up  which  pledged  the  signers 
thereof  to  stand  by  and  with  Bacon  until  all  the  matters  in  dispute 
between  Berkeley  and  the  colonists  could  be  presented  to  and 
passed  upon  by  King  Charles.  For  a  time  some  of  the  leaders 
refused  to  sign  the  paper,  because  they  thought  Bacon  was  going 
too  far  in  his  resistance  to  the  authority  of  the  king,  though  pro- 
fessions of  loyalty  to  Charles  II.  were  prominently  set  forth  in  the 
document.     News  was  then  received  of  renewed  hostile  attacks  bv 


and  Southwest  Virginia  143 

the  Indians ;  and  this  information  removed  the  reiuetance  of  those 
wlio  had  liesitated  in  signing  the  agreement.  J3acon  took  his  army 
across  James  River  and  marched  to  the  town  of  the  Appomattox 
tribe,  tlien  located  where  Petersburg  now  stands,  and  gave  the 
Indians  a  crushing  defeat.  For  several  weeks  the  Indians  were 
pursued  in  different  localities,  the  white  men  killing,  capturing  and 
dispersing  them.  Bacon  then  sent  an  expedition  of  four  armed 
vessels,  under  command  of  Giles  Bland,  to  the  Eastern  Shore  to 
arrest  Governor  Berkeley;  but  Bland  and  his  entire  party  wei-e 
made  captive  by  Berkeley  through  the  treachery  of  the  caj^tain  of 
one  of  the  vessels.  Bland  was  put  in  irons  and  one  of  the  captains 
hanged,  as  a  warning  of  Berkeley's  intentions  to  the  other  leaders 
of  the  revolt.  Berkeley  then  gathered  an  army  of  one  thousand 
men,  composed  largely  of  the  indentured  servants  of  the  planters 
who  were  with  Bacon,  promising  these  servants  the  estates  of  their 
masters  if  he  succeeded  in  repressing  the  rebellion.  With  this 
motley  force  he  sailed  up  the  river  and  again  took  possession  of 
Jamestown.  At  that  time  Bacon  was  at  West  Point  with  his  army, 
and  he  immediately  marched  to  Jamestown,  and  after  a  few  days 
of  desultory  fighting  forced  the  governor  to  flee  again  to  Accomac. 
The  town  was  then  burned,  Bacon  declaring  that  it  should  no  longer 
"Harbour  the  rouges,"  It  was  but  a  brief  while  thereafter  when  the 
rebellion  was  terminated  by  the  death  of  Bacon.  He  had  con- 
tracted the  fever  while  besieging  Jamestown,  and  died  at  the  home 
of  a  friend  in  Gloucester  County.  His  remains  were  secretly  buried, 
his  friends  fearing  that  if  Berkeley  regained  power  he  would  take 
the  body  from  the  grave  and  hang  it  on  a  gibbet  as  Charles  II., 
after  his  restoration,  had  treated  the  remains  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 
A  number  of  Bacon's  followers  surrendered,  placing  themselves  at 
the  mercy  of  Berkeley;  and  he  lost  no  time  in  hunting  down  those 
who  tried  to  conceal  themselves.  Colonel  Thomas  Hansford  was 
captured  by  Robert  Beverley.  Hansford  requested  that  he  should 
be  "shot  like  a  soldier  and  not  ]ianged  like  a  dog",  but  Berkeley 
was  thirsting  for  vengeance  and  Hansford  was  hanged,  being  made 
"the  first  martyr  to  American  liberty."  Berkeley  then  made  pro- 
clamation of  a  general  amnesty  to  all  his  enemies  who  would  sur- 
render their  arms  and  restore  the  property  they  had  taken  from  his 
partisan  supporters.  Many  of  the  revolutionists  availed  them- 
selves of  these  terms,  only  to  find  that  the  perfidious  governor  had 
taken  this  course  to  entrap  them.  Persecutions  and  prosecutions 
were  begun  against  the  most  prominent  men  of  the  rebellion.   Heavy 


144  History  of  Tazewell  County 

fines  were  imposed  and  large  estates  were  confiscated  for  the  pri- 
vate benefit  of  the  governor  and  his  minions.  Twenty-three  of  the 
leaders  were  hanged  without  jury  trials,  a  military  court,  acting 
under  martial  law,  imposing  the  death  penalty  upon  the  victims  at 
the  dictation  of  Berkeley.  Fortunately,  commissioners  had  been 
sent  from  England  to  investigate  the  rebellion;  and  through  their 
effort  and  at  the  protest  of  the  General  Assembly,  Berkeley  was 
prevailed  upon  to  desist  from  his  prosecution  of  the  offending 
colonists.  The  commissioners  in  their  report  of  the  trials  that  took 
place  after  their  arrival  gave  severe  condemnation  to  the  governor 
and  his  subservient  military  court.  They  said:  "We  also  observed 
some  of  the  roA'al  party,  that  sat  on  the  bench  with  us  at  the  trial 
to  be  so  forward  in  impeaching,  accusing,  reviling,  the  prisoners  at 
the  bar,  with  that  inveteracj',  as  if  they  had  been  the  worst  of 
witnesses,  rather  than  justices  of  the  commission,  both  accusing 
and  condemning  at  the  same  time.  This  severe  way  of  proceeding 
represented  to  the  assembly,  they  voted  an  address  to  the  governor, 
that  he  would  desist  from  any  further  sanguinary  punishments, 
for  none  could  tell  when  or  where  it  would  terminate." 

Strange  to  tell,  the  two  great-grandfathers  of  George  Wash- 
ington were  partisans  of  Governor  Berkeley  in  his  vindictive  perse»- 
cutions  of  the  patriots.  They  were  John  Washington  and  Colonel 
Augustine  Warren.  One  hundred  years  thereafter  George  Wash- 
ington, their  great-grandson,  became  the  patriot  military  leader  of 
the  Virginians  when  they  revolted  against  Governor  Diinmore's 
attempted  enforcement  of  the  oppressive  and  unjust  tax  laws  of 
George  III.  The  despicable  Berkeley  was  forced  to  return  to 
England  with  the  commissioners,  where  he  found  himself  so  scorned 
by  his  fellow-countrymen  that  he  soon  died  from  humiliation  and 
shame. 

Some  historians  have  been  disposed  to  condemn  Bacon  and  his 
associates  for  making  their  determined  struggle  for  popular  govern- 
ment, upon  the  theory  that  a  majority  of  the  wealthiest  and  most 
aristocratic  citizens  of  the  colony  were  opposed  to  the  revolutionary 
movement.  These  aristocrats  were  averse  to  democratic  ideas  and 
popular  government ;  and  were  worshipers  of  monarcliy  and  nobility, 
even  when  represented  by  such  debased  creatures  as  Charles  II. 
and  Sir  William  Berkeley.  This  Cavalier  element  adhered  to  the 
doctrine  that  "society  is  most  prosperous  when  a  select  portion  of 
the  community  governs  the  whole."  It  is  the  same  fatuous  doctrine 
that  in  these  days  exudes  from  the  narrow  minds  of  certain  political 


and  Southwest  Virginia  145 

leaders  who  contend  that  those  whom  they  call  "the  best  people" 
shall  rule;  and  that  an  oligarchy  is  preferable  to  the  form  of 
popular  government  which  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Abraham  Lincoln 
gave  to  their  country. 

Made  desperate  by  the  oppressions  of  his  people,  heaped  upon 
them  by  a  venal  governor,  the  young  leader  may  on  some  occasions 
have  been  too  extreme  in  expression  and  in  action,  but  his  revolt 
was  the  first  tragic  manifestation  of  a  yearning  for  personal  and 
political  freedom  in  Colonial  America. 

The  Bacon  rebellion  was  of  brief  duration  and  was  confined  to 
a  small  territory,  but  its  influence  was  far-reaching  in  connection 
with  other  English  colonies  in  America.  A  number  of  persons  who 
were  connected  with  the  Virginia  rebellion  fled  to  North  Carolina 
to  escape  the  persecutions  of  Governor  Berkeley.  They  found  the 
condition  of  affairs  in  that  province  very  much  like  they  had  been 
in  Virginia.  An  obnoxious  navigation  act,  coupled  with  excessive 
taxation,  and  "denial  of  a  free  election  of  an  assembly"  brought 
about  an  insurrection.  It  was  led  by  John  Culpeper,  a  prominent 
member  of  the  colony,  and  he  was  valuably  assisted  by  the  refugees 
from  Virginia.  The  royalists  were  as  bitterly  opposed  to  popular 
government  in  North  Carolina  as  they  had  been  in  Virginia.  The 
advocates  of  self-government  were  denounced  by  the  royalists  as 
meriting  "hanging  for  endeavoring  to  set  the  poor  people  to  plunder 
the  rich."  The  government  was  then  being  conducted  bj'^  Thomas 
Miller  as  president  and  secretary,  and  with  the  added  authority  of 
collecting  the  revenues ;  and  he  had  a  council,  as  did  the  governor  of 
Virginia.  One  of  the  counsellors  joined  in  the  rebellion,  but  the 
others,  with  Miller,  were  arrested  and  imprisoned.  Culpeper  and 
his  associates  refused  to  submit  to  the  odious  acts  of  Parliament, 
organized  a  representative  popular  government,  and  established 
courts  of  justice.  The  insurrectionists  sent  Culpeper  and  another 
planter  to  England  to  effect  a  compromise  with  the  proprietaries  of 
the  colony.  After  fulfilling  his  mission,  Culpeper  started  to  leave 
England,  but  was  arrested  at  tlie  instance  of  Miller.  He  was 
acquitted  by  an  English  j  ury  for  participating  in  the  insurrection ; 
and  from  that  time  the  North  Carolina  colonists  were  left  free  to 
conduct  their  local  affairs. 

The  sixty-nine  years  that  intervened  between  the  landing  of  the 

colony  at  Jamestown  and  the  insurrection  lead  by  Nathaniel  Bacon 

were  pregnant  with  incidents  that  were  tinged  with  romance,  pathos, 

and  tragedy.     They  were  an  appropriate  sequel  to  the  sad  story  of 

T.H. — 10 


146  History  of  Tazewell  County 

the  lost  Roanoke  colony  and  little  Virginia  Dare.  The  small  com- 
munity that  had  been  planted  on  the  Jamestown  peninsula  in  1607 
had  expanded  until  it  occupied  nearly  the  entire  Tidewater  Virginia. 
Beautiful  estates,  many  of  them  now  historic,  were  located  along 
the  borders  of  the  James,  the  York  and  other  rivers,  and  of  the 
numerous  inlets  that  dotted  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay.  The 
population  had  grown  to  forty  thousand  souls,  and  enterprise  and 
abundance  had  sujDplanted  the  slothfulness  and  destitution  which 
had  threatened  to  destroy  the  colony  during  the  first  years  of  its 
existence.  The  neighboring  colonies,  Carolina,  Maryland,  and  Penn- 
sylvania, as  well  as  those  more  remote.  New  York,  and  Massachu- 
setts, were  also  prospering  and  growing  to  such  form  as  to  fore- 
cast the  need  of  a  continental  government  for  all  of  the  colonies. 
From  this  time  onward,  until  1776,  the  trend  of  the  American  com- 
munities was  in  the  direction  of  independent  republican  government. 
The  thirty  years  following  the  Bacon  rebellion  were  stamped 
with  full  assurance  that  the  Virginia  colony  had  reached  a  stage 
of  permanency  and  stability.  Many  incidents  occurred  which 
showed  that  all  the  colonies  were  entering  upon  a  period  of  revolu 
tion  that  was  to  culminate  in  the  formation  of  a  federal  Government. 


The  year  1710  was  an  eventful  one  in  the  history  of  Virginia. 
In  the  month  of  June  of  that  year  Alexander  Spottswood  arrived 
from  England  to  assume  charge  of -the  ■  colony  as  its  governor.  All 
historians  affirm  that  he  was  the  best  and  ablest  of  the  colonial 
governors.  He  was  descended  from  an  old  and  distinguished 
Scottish  family,  and  from  his  early  boyhood  had  been  a  soldier 
in  the  English  army.  His  valor  and  ability  won  for  him  the  rank  of 
colonel  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-eight ;  and  he  came  to  Virginia  six 
years  later  with  a  reputation  so  exalted  as  to  make  his  reception  at 
Williamsburg,  then  the  seat  of  government,  most  cordial  by  the 
leading  citizens  of  the  colony.  He  brought  with  him  from  England 
authority  from  the  Parliament  to  extend  to  Virginians  the  privilege 
or  right  of  habeas  corpus,  which  had  previously  been  denied  them, 
though  other  Englishmen  had  enjoyed  the  sacred  right  for  many 
years.  This  one  thing  made  Spottswood  very  popular  with  the 
people. 

In  a  short  time  after  his  arrival  the  new  governor  became 
involved  in  quarrels  with  the  burgesses,  occasioned  by  what  he 
believed  to  be  a  lack  of  public  spirit  on  their  part  and  reluctance 


and  Southwest  Virginia  147 

to  provide  revenue  for  the  essential  needs  of  the  government.  They 
refused  to  appropriate  money  to  send  armed  assistance  to  the 
Carolina  colonists  who  were  hard  pressed  by  the  Indians  and  were 
appealing  for  help;  and  plead  the  poverty  of  the  colony  as  an 
excuse  for  their  reprehensible  conduct.  Spottswood  was  so  pro- 
voked that  he  sharply  called  the  attention  of  the  burgesses  to  the 
fact  that  they  were  greedily  taking  their  pay  as  members  of  the 
assembly  without  enacting  any  laws  that  would  be  helpful  to  the 
colony.  And  in  an  address  to  the  assembly  he  said:  "To  be  plain 
with  yoUj  the  true  interest  of  your  country  is  not  what  you  have 
troubled  your  heads  about.  All  your  proceedings  have  been  cal- 
culated to  answer  the  notions  of  the  ignorant  populace ;  and  if  you 
can  excuse  yourselves  to  them,  you  matter  not  how  you  stand 
before  God,  or  any  others  to  whom  you  think  you  owe  not  your 
elections.  In  fine,  I  cannot  but  attribute  these  miscarriages  to  the 
people's  mistaken  choice  of  a  set  of  representatives  whom  Heaven 
has  not  *  *  *  endowed  with  the  ordinary  qualifications 
requisite  to  legislators;  and  therefore  I  dissolve  you."  Commenting 
on  the  manner  in  which  Governor  Spottswood  rebuked  the  dema- 
gogues and  time-serving  politicians  of  the  assembly,  the  historian 
PMske  thus  writes  of  the  gallant  and  honorable  gentleman: 

"In  spite  of  this  stinging  tongue  Spottswood  was  greatly  liked 
and  respected  for  his  abilitj'  and  honesty  and  his  thoroughly  good 
heart.  He  was  a  man  sound  in  every  fibre,  clear-sighted,  shrewd, 
immensely  vigorous,  and  full  of  public  spirit.  One  day  we  find 
him  establishing  Indian  missions,  the  next  he  is  undertaking  to 
smelt  iron  and  grow  native  wines ;  the  next  he  is  sending  out  ships 
to  exterminate  the  pirates.  For  his  energy  in  establishing  smelting 
furnaces  he  was  nicknamed  'The  Tubal  Cain  of  Virginia'.  For  the 
making  of  native  wines  he  brought  over  a  colony  of  Germans  from 
the  Rhine,  and  settled  them  in  the  new  county  named  for  him 
Spottsylvania,  hard  by  the  Rapidan  River,  where  Germanna  Ford 
still  preserves  a  reminiscence  of  their  coming." 

Spottswood  was  governor  from  1710  to  1723,  and  his  adminis- 
tration was  clean,  able,  and  progressive.  He  introduced  the  English 
postal  system  into  the  colony,  but  for  a  time  was  antagonized  in 
this  movement  by  the  burgesses.  They  contended  that  the  postal 
charges  were  a  tax,  and  that  Parliament  had  no  right  to  lay  such 
a  tax  upon  the  people  without  their  consent,  given  through  their 
representatives. 


148  History  of  Tazewell  County 

More  than  a  lumdred  years  had  passed  since  Captain  Newport 
landed  the  first  settlers  at  Jamestown;  and  no  concerted  effort  had 
been  made  by  individuals  or  the  government  to  explore  and  occupy 
that  extensive  region  belonging  to  Virginia,  lying  beyond  the  Blue 
Ridge  Mountains.  The  belief  was  still  almost  universal  in  the 
colony  that  the  coast  land  from  Virginia  to  Labrador  was  a  narrow 
strip,  like  Central  America,  separating  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  the 
one  that  was  known  to  wash  the  western  shores  of  the  continent. 
In  the  fall  of  1608,  at  the  command  of  the  London  Company.  Cap- 
tain Newport  made  an  ineffectual  efi'ort  to  reach  and  pass  over  the 
mountains,  with  the  confident  hope  of  finding  a  "salt  sea"  not  far 
beyond  the  Blue  Ridge.  From  that  time  to  the  coming  of  Spotts- 
wood  the  settlers  were  content  to  confine  themselves  to  the  tidewater 
section,  where  there  was  an  abundance  of  everything  necessary  for 
their  comfort,  and  where  their  tobacco  crops  could  be  used  as  money 
in  all  commercial  transactions.  The  settlements  had  been  extended 
far  enough  to  bring  the  mountains  in  view,  but  a  strip  of  forest 
fifty  miles  wide  still  intervened  between  the  frontier  and  the  Blue 
Ridge. 

In  1716  the  stalwart  and  energetic  Spottswood  determined  to 
explore  the  region  west  of  the  mountains ;  and  for  that  purpose 
organized  an  expedition  composed  of  a  number  of  gentlemen  who 
were  eager  to  accompany  the  governor.  Tlicy  took  along  a  number 
of  negro  ser\ants  and  some  Indian  guides,  and  a  train  of  pack- 
horses  laden  with  supplies,  including  an  abundance  of  native  and 
imported  wines  and  liquors.  The  gay  Cavaliers  assembled  at 
Germanna,  and  traveled  thence  up  the  Rappahannock  River  and  its 
tributaries  until  the  mountains  were  reached.  They  crossed  the 
Blue  Ridge  at  Swift  Run  Gap,  and  entered  the  great  Shenandoah 
Valley  a  short  distance  north  of  Port  Republic,  a  locality  that  was 
afterwards  to  be  made  famous  by  Stonewall  Jackson,  the  greatest 
military  leader  America  has  ever  produced,  in  his  brilliant  cam- 
paigns against  the  Federal  armies.  Spottswood  and  his  company 
discovered  a  beautiful  stream  flowing  down  the  valley  and  he  named 
it  the  Euphrates,  which  was  soon  changed  to  the  more  appropriate 
name  of  Shenandoah.  The  party  crossed  the  river  at  a  very  deep 
ford,  on  the  6th  of  September,  and,  on  the  western  bank  of  the 
stream.  Governor  Spottswood  formally  took  possession  of  the  country 
for  George  I.,  King  of  England.  After  remaining  a  few  days  in 
the  splendid  country,  which  no  white  man  had  ever  visited  before, 
the  governor  started  back  to  Williamsburg  and  arrived  there  after 
an  absence  of  eight  weeks. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  149 

John  Fontaine,  who  was  a  member  of  the  jiarty,  kept  a  diary 
from  wliich  there  has  been  preserved  a  partial  account  of  the 
expedition.  He  said  that  the  governor  had  no  graving  irons  and 
could  not  grave  anything  on  stone,  but  Mr.  Fontaine  said:  "I 
graved  my  name  on  a  tree  by  the  riverside,  and  the  Governor  buried 
a  bottle  with  a  paper  enclosed,  on  which  he  writ  that  he  took  pos- 
session of  this  place  in  the  name  of  the  King  George  First  of  Eng- 
land. *  *  *  We  had  a  good  dinner  (on  the  Gth)  and  after  it 
we  got  the  men  together  and  loaded  all  their  arms,  and  we  drank 
the  King's  liealth  in  champagne  and  fired  a  volley,  the  Princesse's 
health  in  Burgundy  and  fired  a  volley,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  royal 
family  in  claret  and  fired  a  volley.  We  drank  the  Governor's  health 
and  fired  another  volley.  We  had  several  sorts  of  liquors,  viz : 
Virginia  red  wine  and  white  wine,  Irish  usquebaugh,  brandy,  shrub, 
two  sorts  of  rum,  champagne,  canarj',  cherry  punch,  cider  &c."  The 
diarist  also  relates  that  bears,  deer,  and  turkeys  were  abundant,  and 
in  the  Valley  the  foot-prints  of  elk  and  buffalo  were  seen  in  many 
places. 

Governor  Spottswood  was  so  delighted  with  the  outcome  of  his 
exploring  expedition  that,  upon  his  return  to  Williamsburg,  he 
established  an  Order  which  he  named  "Knights  of  the  Golden  Horse- 
shoe." From  a  letter  written  by  Rev.  Hugh  Jones,  who  was  then 
rector  of  Bruton  Church,  we  learn  the  reason  for  the  name  given 
the  Order.  Rev.  Jones  says:  "For  this  expedition  they  wen 
obliged  to  provide  a  great  quantity  of  horse  shoes,  things  seldom 
used  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  country,  where  there  are  few  stones, 
upon  which  account  the  governor  upon  their  return  presented  each 
of  his  companions  with  a  golden  horse  shoe,  some  of  which  I  have 
seen,  studded  with  valuable  stones,  resembling  the  heads  of  nails, 
with  this  inscription  *  *  *  Sic  juvat  transcendere  monies. 
This  he  instituted  to  encourage  gentlemen  to  venture  backwards 
and  make  discoveries  and  new  settlements,  any  gentleman  being 
entitled  to  wear  this  golden  shoe  that  can  prove  he  drank  his 
Majesty's  health  upon  Mount  George." 

It  seems  that  a  party  climbed  the  highest  peak  that  they  could 
find  and  that  Spottswood  cut  the  name  of  George  I.  on  tlie  summit. 
In  letters  which  he  wrote  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  in  London,  Spotts- 
wood disclosed  that  the  object  of  his  expedition  across  the  moun- 
tains was  not  for  jjleasure,  nor  for  the  discovery  of  new  territory, 
but  was  for  a  military  and  commercial  purpose;  and  to  prevent 
the  French  fi-om  coming  down  from  the  Lake  Country'  and  encroach- 


150  History  of  Tazewell  County 

ing  upon  the  dominions  of  Virginia  as  defined  by  the  several  char- 
ters given  the  London  Company.  After  referring  to  the  fact  that 
the  French  had  in  recent  years  built  forts  in  places  that  threatened 
the  possessions  of  England,  he  stated,  "that  the  Brittish  Planta- 
tions are  in  a  manner  Surrounded  by  their  Commerce  w'th  the 
numerous  Nations  of  Indians  seated  on  botli  sides  of  the  Lakes ; 
they  may  not  only  Engross  the  Whole  Skin  Trade,  but  may,  when 
they  please.  Send  out  Bodys  of  Indians  on  the  back  of  these  Plan- 
tations as  vaay  greatly  distress  his  Maj'ty's  subjects  here,  And 
should  they  multiply  their  settlera'ts  along  these  Lakes,  so  as  to 
join  their  Dominions  of  Canada  to  their  new  Colony  of  Louisiana, 
they  might  even  possess  themselves  of  any  of  these  plantations 
they  pleased.  Nature,  'tis  true,  has  formed  a  Barrier  for  us  by 
that  long  Chain  of  Mountains  w'ch  run  from  the  back  of  South 
Carolina  as  far  as  New  York,  and  w'ch  are  only  passable  in  some 
few  places,  but  even  that  Natural  Defence  may  prove  rather  destruc- 
tive to  us,  if  they  are  not  possessed  by  us  before  they  are  known  to 
them.  To  prevent  the  dangers  W'ch  Threaten  his  Maj'ty's  Domin- 
ions here  from  the  growing  power  of  these  Neighbours,  nothing 
seems  to  me  of  more  consequence  than  that  now  while  the  Nations 
are  at  peace,  and  while  the  French  are  yet  uncapable  of  possessing 
all  that  vast  Tract  W'ch  lies  on  the  back  of  these  Plantations,  We 
should  attempt  to  make  some  settlements  on  ye  Lakes,  and  at  the 
same  time  possess  ourselves  of  those  passes  of  the  great  Mountains, 
W'ch  are  necessary  to  preserve  a  Communication  with  such  Settle- 
ments." -        -^ 

Though  he  made  such  intelligent  suggestions  as  to  how  the 
French  could  be  prevented  from  doing  what  they  afterwards  tried 
to  do,  and  partially  accomplished,  he  remained  very  ignorant  of 
the  phJ^sical  structure  and  extent  of  the  regions  north  and  west  of 
the  Shenandoah  Valley.  In  another  letter  addressed  to  the  Lords  of 
Trade,  dated  August  14,  1718,  he  said: 

"The  chief  aim  of  my  expedition  over  tlie  great  mountains  in 
1716,  was  to  satisfye  myself  whether  it  was  practicable  to  come  at 
the  lakes.  Having  on  that  occasion  found  an  easy  passage  over 
that  great  ridge  of  mountains  W'ch  before  were  judged  unpassable, 
I  also  discovered,  bj^  relation  of  Indians  who  frequent  those  parts, 
that  from  the  pass  where  I  was  it  is  but  three  days'  march  to  a 
great  nation  of  Indians  living  on  a  river  W'ch  discliarges  itself  in 
the  Lake  Erie,  that  from  ye  western  side  of  one  of  the  small  moun- 
tains W'ch  I  saw,  that  lake  is  very  visible,  and  cannot,  therefore. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  151 

be  above  five  days  march  from  the  pass  afore-mentioned,  and  that 
the  way  thither  is  also  very  practicable,  the  mountains  to  the  west-, 
ward  of  the  great  ridge  being  smaller  than  those  I  passed  on  the 
eastern  side.  W'ch  shews  how  easy  a  matter  it  is  to  gain  possession 
of  those  lakes." 

Spottswood  became  involved  in  a  quarrel  with  Dr.  James  Blair, 
who  was  President  of  William  and  Mary  College.  Blair's  influence 
was  very  great  with  the  English  Court,  and  he  procured  the  removal 
of  Spottswood  as  governor  in  1722.  The  deposed  governor  had 
become  so  deeply  attached  to  Virginia  that  he  made  it  his  future 
permanent  home.  He  continued  to  act  as  postmaster-general  for 
the  American  colonies,  and  by  1738  had  a  regular  mail  route  estab- 
lished that  extended  from  New  England  to  Williamsburg;  and 
irregular  mails  were  sent  by  riders  on  south  to  the  Carolinas.  In 
1740  Spottswood  died  at  his  estate  of  "Temple  Farm"  at  Yorktown. 
The  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  was  negotiated  in  the  house 
where  the  valiant  and  noble  gentleman  died. 


Pioneer  Period 


Embracing  Discovery  and  Settlement  of  the  Shenan- 
doah, Roanoke,  New  River,  Holston  and  Chnch 
Vallej^s  and  Kentucky. 


PIONEER  PERIOD 


CHAPTER  I. 

SETTLEMENT    OF    SHENANDOAH    AND    ROANOKE    VALLEYS. 

Events  that  seem  of  little  importance  at  the  time  of  their 
occurrence  are  sometimes  followed  by  consequences  of  such  magni- 
tude as  to  greatly  affect  the  character  and  material  welfare  of  a 
nation.  The  discovery  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley  by  Governor 
Spottswood  was  an  event  of  this  kind.  His  expedition  across  the 
Blue  RidgCj  so  far  as  he  was  concerned^  was  executed  for  purely 
military  and  commercial  purposes.  It  was  certainly  nothing  more 
than  a  pleasure-seeking  excursion  on  the  part  of  Robert  Beverly^ 
Colonel  Robertson,  and  the  other  Virginia  gentlemen  who  accom- 
panied the  governor,  judging  from  the  account  of  the  expedition 
related  by  John  Fontaine  in  his  diary.  The  handsome  jewel  Spotts- 
wood gave  to  each  member  of  his  illustrious  Order  of  "Knights  of 
the  Golden  Horseshoe/'  bore  the  inscription:  "Sic  jiivat  trans- 
cendere  monies,"  which  translated  means:  "Thus  it  is  a  pleasure 
to  cross  the  mountains." 

When  SpottSAVood  buried  a  bottle  on  the  bank  of  the  beautiful 
Shenandoah,  with  a  paper  in  the  bottle  declaring  that  the  .river  and 
newly  discovered  territory  were  the  possessions  of  King  George  L, 
neither  the  governor  nor  any  one  of  his  gallant  comjianions  took 
thought  that  the  seed  of  European  civilization  was  being  planted  in 
the  strange,  vast  wilderness  lying  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains. 
Nor  could  they  foresee  that  this  seed  of  civilization  would  quickly 
germinate,  and  its  rich  harvest  be  scattered  broadcast,  northward 
to  the  lakes,  and  westward  until  it  reached  the  distant  shores  of 
the  great  "salt  sea."  which  the  London  Company  ordered  Captain 
Newport  to  seek  and  find.  Spottswood's  expedition  was  the  fore- 
runner of  the  pioneer  movement  that  brought  the  first  settlers  to  the 
Clinch  Valley  and  all  parts  of  Southwest  Virginia.  Writing  about 
this  wonderful  western  movement,  Fiske,  the  delightful  historian, 
says : 

"This  development  occurred  in  a  way  even  fai*-seeing  men  could 
not  have  predicted.  It  introduced  into  Virginia  a  new  set  of  people, 
new    forms    of    religion,    new    habits    of    life.       It    affected    all    the 

(155) 


156  History  of  Tazewell  County 

colonies  south  of  Pennsylvania  most  profoundly,  and  did  more  than 
anj'thing  else  to  determine  the  character  of  all  the  states  afterwards 
founded  west  of  the  Alleghanies  and  south  of  the  latitude  of  middle 
Illinois.  Until  recent  years,  little  has  been  written  about  the  com- 
ing of  the  so-called  Scotch-Irish  to  America,  and  yet  it  is  an  event 
of  scarcely  less  importance  than  the  exodus  of  English  Puritans  to 
New  England  and  that  of  English  Cavaliers  to  Virginia.  It  is 
impossible  to  understand  the  drift  which  American  history,  social 
and  political,  has  taken  since  the  time  of  Andrew  Jackson,  witliout 
studying  the  early  life  of  the  Scotch-Irish  population  of  the  Alle- 
ghany regions,  the  pioneers  of  the  American  backwoods.  I  do  not 
mean  to  be  understood  as  saying  that  the  wliole  of  that  population 
at  the  time  of  our  Revolutionary  War  was  Scotch-Irish,  for  there 
was  a  considerable  German  element  in  it,  besides  an  infusion  of 
English  moving  inward  from  the  coast.  But  the  Scotch-Irish  ele- 
ment was  more  numerous  and  far  more  important  than  all  the 
others." 

A  very  large  portion  of  the  pioneer  settlers  in  Tazewell  were 
of  the  Scotch-Irish  blood,  therefore  it  is  proper  to  inquire  at  this 
stage  of  my  work:  Who  were  these  peculiar  people,  with  a  com- 
pound name,  and  from  whence  did  they  come.^  Fiske  very  con- 
cisely and  splendidly  gives  tlie  desired  information  by  saying: 

"The  answer  carries  us  back  to  the  year  1611,  when  James  I. 
began  peopling  Ulster  with  colonists  from  Scotland  and  the  north 
of  England.  The  plan  was  to  put  into  Ireland  a  Protestant 
population  that  might  ultimately  outnumber  the  Catholics  and 
become  the  controlling  element  in  the  country.  The  settlers  were 
picked  men  and  women  of  the  most  excellent  sort.  By  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century  there  were  300,000  of  them  in  Ulster. 
That  province  had  been  the  most  neglected  part  of  the  island,  a 
wilderness  of  bogs  and  fens;  they  transformed  it  into  a  garden. 
They  also  established  manufactures  of  woolens  and  linens  which 
have  ever  since  been  famous  throughout  the  world.  By  the  begin- 
ning of  the  eighteenth  century  tlieir  numbers  had  risen  to  nearly 
a  million.  Their  social  condition  was  not  that  of  peasants ;  they 
were  intelligent  yeomanry  and  artisans.  In  a  document  signed 
in  1718  by  a  miscellaneous  group  of  319  men,  onlj'  13  made  their 
mark,  while  306  wrote  their  names  in  full.  Nothing  like  that 
could  have  happened  at  that  time  in  any  other  part  of  the  British 
Empire,  liardly  even  in  New  England. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  157 

"When  these  people  began  coming  to  America,  those  families 
that  had  been  longest  in  Ireland  had  dwelt  there  but  for  three 
generations,  and  confusion  of  mind  seems  to  lurk  in  any  nomencla- 
ture which  couples  them  with  the  true  Irish.  On  the  other  hand, 
since  love  laughs  at  feuds  and  schisms,  intei-marriages  between 
the  colonists  of  Ulster  and  the  native  Irish  were  by  no  means 
unusual,  and  instances  occur  of  Murphys  and  MacManuses  of 
Presbyterian  faith.  It  was  common  in  Ulster  to  allude  to  Presby- 
terians as  Scotch,  to  Roman  Catholics  as  Irish,  and  to  members 
of  the  English  Church  as  Protestants,  without  much  reference  to 
pedigree.  From  this  jjoint  of  view  the  term  'Scotch-Irish'  may- 
be defensible,  provided  we  do  not  let  it  conceal  the  fact  that  the 
people  to  whom  it  is  applied  are  for  the  most  part  Lowland  Scotch 
Presbyterians,  very  slightly  hibernicized  in  blood." 

In  1698  the  English  manufacturers  became  very  jealous  of  the 
successful  Scotch-Irish  manufacturers  in  Ulster,  and  secured  from 
Parliament  legislation  that  inflicted  such  damage  to  the  Irish  linen 
and  woolen  industries  that  they  had  to  discharge  many  of  their 
skilled  workmen,  who  suffered  grievously  from  lack  of  employ- 
ment. And  about  the  same  time  the  English  Church  inaugurated 
disgraceful  jDcrsecutions  against  all  Protestants  who  dissented  to 
the  doctrines  of  the  Established  Church.  Similar  persecutions 
were  being  used  in  Virginia  and  were  continued  for  a  number  of 
years.  The  Presbyterians  were  not  permitted  to  have  schools ; 
their  ministers  were  not  allowed  to  perform  the  marriage  cere- 
mony ;  and  if  any  persons  had  the  courage  to  violate  the  law,  the 
marriage  was  declared  invalid.  They  were  also  denied  the  right  to 
hold  any  office  higher  than  constable.  There  were  other  despotic 
and  foolish  enactments-  that  were  a  disgrace  to  the  British  Govern- 
ment. Oppressions  were  heaped  upon  the  Scotch-Irish  in  Ulster 
until  they  became  unendurable;  and  they  began  to  emigrate  to 
America  in  large  numbers  about  the  time  Spottswood  made  his 
famous  exploration  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  This  tide  of 
emigration  from  Ulster  continued  to  flow  to  America  until  the 
Toleration  Act  for  Ireland  was  enacted  by  Parliament  in  1782.  It 
is  known  that  during  one  week  in  1727  six  ship-loads  of  emigrants 
from  Ulster  were  landed  at  Philadelphia;  and  that  in  the  two 
years  1733  and  1734  as  many  as  30,000  came  over  to  America, 
seeking  religious  and  political  freedom.  From  carefully  prepared 
estimates  it  is  also  known  that  between  the  years  1730  and  1770 — a 


158  History  of  Tazewell  County 

period  of  forty  years — half  a  million  of  the  Scotch-Irish  left 
Ulster  and  made  their  future  homes  among  the  American  colonies. 
Most  of  them  located  in  Pennsylvania,  where  they  were  given 
grants  of  land  in  the  western  mountain  sections  for  the  purpose  of 
thus  making  them  a  strong  defence  of  the  frontier  against  Indian 
invasion  of  the  older  settlements,  as  well  as  against  the  French. 

The  "Knights  of  the  Golden  Horseshoe",  after  their  return 
to  Williamsburg  from  the  famous  exploring  expedition,  were  loud 
in  their  praises  of  the  countrj'  beyond  the  mountains.  They  spoke 
in  the  most  glowing  tei'ms  of  its  scenic  beauty,  its  fertile  soil,  and 
tlie  abundance  of  big  game.  Their  brilliant  descriptions,  however, 
did  not  induce  any  of  the  Virginians  tlien  living  east  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  to  migrate  to  the  Valley,  and  take  the  risks  and  endure  the 
hardships  of  pioneers.  They  preferred  to  live  in  safety,  and  to 
enjoy  the  luxury  that  had  been  built  upon  indentured  servitude 
and  slaverj-.  Thus  was  the  honor  of  bringing  this  magnificent 
section  of  America  to  a  high  state  of  civilization  given  to  a  hardier 
and  more  intelligent  class  of  men,  who  came  from  Ulster  and 
Germanv,  \'ia  Pennsvlvania  and  Maryland. 


The  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  at  a  session  "Begun  and 
holden  in  the  Capitol  in  the  City  of  Williamsburg  on  the  second 
day  of  November  1720"  jDassed  an  act  to  erect  a  county  to  be 
called  Spottsylvania  in  honor  of  Governor  Spottswood.  The  pre- 
amble of  the  bill  stated:  "That  the  frontiers  towards  the  high 
mountains  are  exposed  to  danger  from  the  Indians  and  the  late 
settlements  of  the  P'rench  to  the  westward  of  the  said  mountains." 
In  the  enacting  clause,  the  boundaries  of  the  new  county  are  thus 
given:  "Spottsylvania  County  bounds  upon  Snow  Creek  up  to  a 
mill,  thence  b}'  a  southwest  line  to  the  river  North-Anna,  thence 
up  said  river  as  far  as  convenient,  and  thence  by  a  line  to  be  run 
over  the  high  mountains  to  the  river  on  the  North-west  side  thereof, 
so  as  to  include  the  northern  passage  thro'  the  said  mountains, 
thence  down  the  said  river  until  it  comes  against  the  head  of  the 
Rappahannock;  thence  by  a  line  to  the  head  of  Rappahannock 
river ;  and  down  that  river  to  tlie  mouth  of  Snow  Creek ;  which 
tract  of  land  fi'om  the  first  of  May,  1721.  shall  become  a  county 
by  the  name  of  Spottsylvania  County." 

The  preamble  of  the  act  discloses  the  primary  purpose  for  the 
creation  of  the  new  county.  It  was  another  invitation  to  bold 
spirits   to   cross   the   Blue    Ridge   Mountains    and   establish   homes 


and  Southwest  Virginia  159 

and  build  forts,  as  did  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the  Clinch  Valley; 
and  erect  a  strong  barrier  against  the  Indians  who  had  previously 
been  making  bloody  attacks  upon  the  frontier  settlements  east  of 
the  mountains.  The  Virginia  colonists  did  not  respond  to  this 
second  invitation,  following  Spottswood's  discovery  of  the  Valley; 
and  no  settlements  were  made  there  until  more  than  ten  years 
after  Spottsylvania  Coimty  was  formed.  It  appears  that  the 
entire  Valley  between  the  Blue  Ridge  and  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains was  uninhabited.  The  aborigines  had,  though  different  tribes 
asserted  claim  to  the  territory,  set  it  apart  as  a  hunting  ground, 
just  as  they  had  done  with  all  the  territory  in  Virginia  west  of 
New  River  and  south  of  the  Ohio.  Therefore  it  became  a  highway 
for  war  parties  of  hostile  tribes  as  they  traveled  either  north  or 
south  to  make  war  on  their  enemies.  The  Shawnees,  who  had 
settled  at  the  present  site  of  Winchester,  Virginia,  after  their 
expulsion  from  South  Carolina  by  the  Cherokees  in  1690,  had 
joined  their  kindred  either  in  Pennsylvania  or  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 
This  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the  first  settlement  made  in 
Virginia  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  was  at  or  near  Winchester.  Hunters 
and  small  exploring  parties  had,  possibly,  visited  the  Valley  but 
no  settlements  were  made  there  until  1732. 

Several  local  historians  state,  as  a  fact,  that  before  any  settle- 
ments were  made  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  John  Marlin,  a 
pedlar,  and  Jolin  Sailing,  a  weaver,  started  out  from  Winchester 
to  explore  the  upper  country.  Waddell,  in  his  Annals  of  Augusta 
Countj^,  fixes  the  date  of  the  Marlin-Salling  exploration  at  about 
the  year  1726.  They  traveled  up  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah 
to  the  divide  which  separates  that  valley  from  the  James  River 
Valley,  and  journeyed  on  until  they  reached  the  Roanoke  River. 
There  they  were  discovered  and  surprised  by  a  himting  party  of 
Cherokee  Indians,  possibly,  about  the  "Great  Lick,"  where  the 
city  of  Roanoke  is  now  located.  Sailing  was  captured  by  the 
Indians,  but  Marlin  escaped.  Sailing's  experience  as  a  captive 
was  about  as  thrilling  as  that  of  Thomas  Ingles,  who  was  captured 
by  the  Shawnees  at  Draper's  Meadows  in  1755,  and  James  Moore, 
who  was  captured  by  a  band  of  the  same  tribe  in  Abb's  Valley  in 
1784.  Sailing  was  taken  by  the  Cherokees  to  one  of  their  towns 
in  Tennessee.  While  on  a  hunting  expedition  in  Kentucky  with  a 
party  of  the  Cherokees  he  was  captured  by  a  band  of  Illinois 
Indians,  and  was  taken  to  Kaskaskia,  where  he  was  adopted  into 
the  family  of  an  Indian  squaw  who  had  lost  a  son  in  battle.     The 


160  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Illinois  Indians  sold  him  to  Spanish  traders  who  wanted  to  use 
him  as  an  interpreter.  They  took  him  to  Canada,  where  he  was 
purchased  from  the  Spaniards  by  the  French  governor^  and  was 
sent  by  him  to  the  Dutch  settlement  at  New  York.  From  New 
York  he  made  his  way  to  Williamsburg,  and  from  thence  to  Win- 
chester, arriving  there  after  an  absence  of  six  years. 

In  1730,  John  and  Isaac  Vanmeter,  who  were  German  Hugue- 
nots, and  then  located  in  Pennsylvania,  procured  from  Govex*nor 
Gooch,  of  Virginia,  a  grant  for  40,000  acres  of  land  to  be  located 
in  the  lower  Valley  and  within  the  pi-esent  boundaries  of  Frederick 
County,  Virginia,  and  Jefferson  County,  West  Virginia.  The  Van- 
meters  sold,  in  1731,  their  warrant  for  the  40,000  acres  to  Joist 
Hite,  also  of  Pennsylvania.  He  began  to  survey  and  locate  valuable 
tracts  of  land,  and  offered  extraordinarj^  inducements  to  immigrants 
to  settle  upon  the  lands.  But  the  strongest  inducement  was  the 
removal  of  his  own  family  from  Pennsylvania  to  the  Valley.  He 
settled  with  his  family,  in  1732,  a  few  miles  south  of  where  Win- 
chester is  now  located;  and  this  is  supposed  to  be  the  first  per- 
manent settlement  made  by  a  white  man  in  the  splendid  Valley  of 
Virginia.     Waddell  says: 

"Population  soon  flowed  in  to  take  possession  of  the  rich  lands 
offered  by  Hite;  but  a  controvers)'^  speedily  arose  in  regard  to  the 
proprietor's  title.  I^ord  P'airfax  claimed  Hite's  lands  as  a  part 
of  his  grant  of  tlie  'Northern  Neck.'  Fairfax  entered  a  caveat 
against  Hite,  in  1736,  and  thereupon  Hite  brought  suit  against 
Fairfax.  This  suit  was  not  finalh'  decided  till  1786,  long  after  the 
death  of  all  the  original  parties,  when  judgment  was  rendered  in 
favor  of  Hite  and  his  vendees.  The  dispute  between  Fairfax  and 
Hite  retarded  the  settlement  of  that  part  of  the  Valley,  and  induced 
immigrants  to  push  their  way  up  tlie  Shenandoah  River  to  regions 
not  implicated  in  sudi  controversies." 


About  tlie  year  1732  Jolin  Lewis,  whose  descendants  after- 
wards figured  so  conspicuously  in  the  affairs  of  Virginia,  settled 
in  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  Local  historians  designate  him  as  the 
first  white  settler  in  that  region.  He  became  acquainted  with  John 
Sailing  shortly  after  tlie  latter  returned  to  Winchester  from  cap- 
tivity; and  was  so  pleased  with  Sailing's  description  of  the  Upper 
Valley  that  he  and  John  Mackey  made  a  visit  to  the  country  under 
the  guidance  of  Sailing;  and  all  three  of  these  men  determined  to 


and  Southwest  Virginia  161 

make  their  homes  there.  There  was  an  abiiiulance  of  fertile  land 
with  no  one  claiming  ownership  to  any  portion  of  it^  and  Lewis 
and  his  companions  were  free  to  choose  what  they  wished. 

John  Lewis  was  a  native  of  the  county  of  Donegal,  Province  of 
Ulster,  Ireland,  was  of  pure  Scotch  descent,  and  came  to  this  coun- 
try from  Portugal,  first  settling  with  his  family  in  Pennsylvania. 
He  had  been  forced  to  leave  Ireland  on  account  of  killing  an  Irish 
landlord  from  whom  he  had  rented  land.  The  landlord  was  trying 
to  evict  Lewis  from  his  holdings  by  force  and  shot  into  the  house, 
killing  a  brother  of  Lewis  and  severely  wounding  his  wife.  There- 
upon Lewis  rushed  out  of  the  house,  killed  the  Irish  lord,  and  drove 
his  retainers  away.  His  conduct  was  fully  justified  by  the  authori- 
ties, but  he  thought  it  best  to  leave  the  country.  When  he  moved 
his  family  to  the  Shenandoah  Valley  he  brought  with  him  three 
sons,  Thomas,  Andrew  and  William ;  and  a  fourth  son,  Charles, 
was  born  at  the  new  home.  Andrew  commanded  the  Virginians  at 
the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant,  and  won  distinction  as  a  general  in 
the  Revolutionary  War.  Charles  commanded  a  regiment  at  Point 
Pleasant,  and  was  killed  in  the  engagement.  In  his  Annals  of 
Augusta  county,  Waddell  says:  "Concurrently  with  the  settle- 
ment of  Lewis,  or  immediately  afterward,  a  flood  of  immigrants 
poured  into  the  country.  *  *  *  It  is  believed  that  all  the 
earliest  settlers  came  from  Pennsylvania  and  up  the  Valley  of  the 
Shenandoah.  It  was  several  years  before  an}^  settlers  entered  the 
Valley  from  the  east,  and  through  the  gaps  in  the  Blue  Ridge." 
A  large  majority  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the  Clinch  Valley  and 
of  all  Southwest  Virginia  were  of  the  same  stock  as  those  who  first 
came  to  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  In  fact,  Pennsylvania  and  Mary- 
land furnished  nearly  all  of  them,  but  many  located  for  a  time  in 
the  Valley  before  coming  here. 

These  settlers  were  not  by  any  means  all  of  the  Scotch-Irish 
blood.  There  was  a  strong  element  of  Germans  among  them,  who 
shared  equally  with  the  men  from  Ulster  the  glory  of  making 
the  Shenandoah  Valley  and  Southwest  Virginia  two  of  the  most 
noted  and  delightful  sections  of  the  United  States.  The  Scotch 
and  German  pioneer  settlers  were,  alike,  men  of  great  energy  and 
dauntless  courage;  and  filled  with  such  intense  political  and  i-elig- 
ious  convictions  that  they  and  their  descendants  have  made  an 
indelible  impression  upon  the  social,  political  and  moral  life  of 
America.  Fiske,  the  historian,  says:  "Jefferson  is  often  called  the 
father    of    modern   American    democracy;    in    a    certain    sense    the 

T.H.— 11 


162  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Shenandoah  Valley  and  adjacent  Appalachian  regions  may  be 
called  its  cradle.  In  that  rude  frontier  society,  life  assumed  many 
new  aspects,  old  customs  were  forgotten,  old  distinctions  abolished, 
social  equality  acquired  even  more  importance  than  unchecked 
individualism.  The  notions,  sometimes  crude  and  noxious,  some- 
times just  and  wholesome,  which  characterized  Jacksonian  demo- 
cracy, flourished  greatly  on  the  frontier  and  have  thence  been 
propagated  eastward  through  the  older  communities,  affecting  their 
legislation  and  tlieir  politics  more  or  less  according  to  frequency 
of  contact  and  intercourse."  This  Jeffersonian  democracy  of  the 
pioneer  settlers  of  the  Appalachian  regions,  including  the  Clinch 
Valley,  was  scattered  by  their  descendants  throughout  the  West 
and  Northwest.  And  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century  it  was  given 
added  impulse  by  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  is  the  only  peer  of  Jeffer- 
son, as  a  leader  and  teacher  of  a  pure  democracy,  the  world  has 
ever  produced. 

In  1734;  an  event  occurred  which  greatly  accelerated  the  west- 
ward movement.  This  was  the  creation  of  a  new  county  to  be 
taken  from  Spottsylvania.  On  the  20th  of  September  of  that 
year  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  passed  an  act  for  that  end, 
and  its  provisions,  in  part,  were  as  follows : 

"Whereas  divers  inconveniences  attend  the  upper  inhabitants  of 
Spottsylvania  county,  by  reason  of  their  great  distance  from  the 
courthouse,  and  other  places  usually  appointed  for  public  meetings. 
Be  it  therefore  enacted,  by  the  Lieutenant  Governor,  Council  and 
Burgesses  of  this  present  General  Assembly,  and  it  is  hereby 
enacted,  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  that  from  and  immediately 
after  the  first  day  of  January,  now  next  ensuing,  the  said  county 
of  Spottsylvania  be  divided,  by  the  dividing  line,  between  the  parish 
of  St.  George,  and  the  parish  of  St.  Mark ;  and  that  that  part  of  the 
county,  which  is  now  the  parish  of  St.  George,  remain,  and  be 
called,  and  known  by  the  name  of  Spottsylvania  county;  and  that 
all  that  territory  of  land  adjoining  to,  and  above  the  said  line, 
bounden  southerly  by  the  line  of  Hanover  county,  northerly  by  the 
grant  of  Lord  Fairfax,  and  westerly  by  the  utmost  limits  of  Vir- 
ginia, be  thenceforth  erected  into  one  distinct  county  and  be  called 
and  known  by  the  name  of  the  county  of  Orange."  The  county 
seat  was  afterwards  located  at  the  site  of  the  present  Orange,  Vir- 
ginia. 

That  the  intention  of  the  act  was  to  encourage  settlements  to 


and  Southwest  Virginia  163 

the  westward  of  the  Shenandoah,  called  in  the  act  the  "Sherrendo" 
river,  is  evidenced  by  the  recital:  "That  all  inhabitants  that  shall 
be  settled  there  after  the  first  day  of  January  succeeding  shall  be 
free  and  exempt  from  the  paiment  of  public,  county,  and  parish 
levies  by  the  space  of  three  years,  from  thence  next  following." 
This  act  brought  into  existence  the  largest  county  that  was  ever 
established  in  the  world.  In  fact,  it  was  extensive  enough  in  terri- 
tory to  be  called  an  empire,  but  had  no  white  inhabitants,  except 
the  few  settlers  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley  and  a  few  hundreds  east 
of  the  Blue  Ridge.  Its  bounds  extended  as  far  northerly  and 
westerly  as  the  utmost  limits  of  Virginia.  The  charters  given  by 
James  I.  to  the  London  Company  fixed  the  northern  limits  at  the 
Great  Lakes  and  the  western  limits  at  the  Pacific  Ocean. 


The  British  Government  grew  more  restless  as  the  French 
continued  to  push  south  from  Canada  with  their  forts  and  trading 
posts,  locating  them  on  Virginia  territorj^ ;  and  the  policy  of  advanc- 
ing the  English  settlements  as  far  north  and  west  and  as  rapidh' 
as  possible  was  adopted.  In  pursuance  of  this  policy,  first  sug- 
gested by  Governor  Spottswood,  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia 
determined  to  erect  two  distinct  counties  west  of  the  mountains, 
and  to  hold  out  stronger  inducements  for  settlers  to  locate  with 
their  families  in  the  unexplored  and  indefinite  regions.  On  the  15th 
of  December,  1738,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  for 
erecting  two  new  counties  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  to  be  called 
Frederick,  and  Augusta,  respectively.  The  title  declared  it  to  be: 
"An  Act  for  erecting  two  new  Counties,  and  Parishes,  and  granting 
certain  encouragements  to  the  inhabitants  thereof;"  and  the  pre- 
amble declared  that,  "Whereas  great  numbers  of  people  have  set- 
tled themselves  of  late  upon  the  rivers  of  Sherrendo,  Cohongorton, 
and  Opeckon,  and  the  branches  thereof,  on  the  northwest  of  the 
Blue .  Ridge  mountains,  whereby  the  strength  of  this  colony,  and 
its  security  upon  the  frontiers,  and  his  Majesty's  revenue  of  quit- 
rents  are  like  to  be  much  increased  and  augmented:  For  giving 
encouragement  to  such  as  shall  think  fit  to  settle  there,  Be  it 
enacted,"  etc. 

After  outlining  the  bounds  of  the  two  counties,  several  impor- 
tant provisions  were  incorporated  in  the  enacting  clauses.  One  of 
these  provided  that  the  two  new  counties  should  remain  attached 
to  Orange  County  and  Saint  Mark's  parish  until  it  was  made  known 


164  History  of  Tazewell  County 

to  the  governor  and  council  tliat  there  was  "a  sufficient  number  of 
inhabitants  for  apjDointing-  justices  of  the  peace  and  other  officers 
and  erecting  courts  therein."  The  act  also  provided  that  the 
inhabitants  sliould  be  exempted  from  "the  payment  of  all  ])ublic, 
county  and  parish  levies  for  ten  years."  And  it  was  further  pro- 
vided that  all  levies  and  officers'  fees  could  be  paid  'in  money,  or 
tobacco  at  three  farthings  per  pound,  without  anj'  deduction." 

The  erection  of  these  two  counties  confined  the  bounds  of 
Orange  County  to  a  comparatively  small  area  cast  of  the  Blue 
Ridge.  As  left  by  the  act,  which  called  Frederirvk  and  Augusta 
into  existence,  its  territory  was  composed  of  the  present  counties 
of  Orange^  Culpeper,  Rappahannock,  INIadison  and  Green.  All 
the  Virginia  territory  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  except  that  portion 
of  the  Valley  east  of  Rockingham  and  Page  counties  and  a  small 
part  of  the  present  State  of  West  Virginia,  constituted  Augusta 
county.  This  made  the  extreme  limits  of  Augusta  reach  westward 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  northward  to  Canada.  Thus  did  the 
entire  Clinch  Valley  become  a  part  of  Augusta  County.  By  the 
treaty  of  Paris,  negotiated  in  1763,  the  limits  of  Augusta  were 
reduced  so  as  to  cmbi'acc  only  the  present  State  of  Virginia  west 
of  the  Blue  Ridge,  nearly  all  of  the  present  State  of  West  Virginia, 
all  of  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois;  and  Michigan  and 
Wisconsin,  except  the  portions  of  these  two  states  that  lie  west  of 
the  Mississippi.  The  county  was  not  regularly  organized  until 
1745.  On  October  30th  of  that  year  Governor  Gooch  issued  "a 
Commission  of  the  Peace"  to  twenty-one  citizens  of  the  county, 
namely:  James  Patton,  John  Lewis.  John  Buchanan,  George  Robin- 
son, Peter  Scholl,  James  Bell,  Robert  Campbell,  John  Brown, 
Robert  Poage,  John  Pickens,  Thomas  Lewis,  Hugh  Thompson, 
Robert  Cunningham,  John  Tinla  (Finley.'')  Richard  Woods,  John 
Christian,  Robert  Craven,  James  Kerr,  Adam  Dickinson,  Andrew 
Pickens  and  John  Anderson. 

James  Patton  and  John  Buchanan,  two  of  the  men  named  in 
this  Commission  of  the  Peace,  came  from  Ireland  to  the  Shenan- 
doah Valley  about  1735  or  1736,  where  they  soon  became  leaders 
in  the  affairs  of  that  region,  and  of  Augusta  County  after  its  organi- 
zation in  1745.  A  few  years  thereafter  they  became  the  leading 
spirits  in  the  exploration  and  settlement  of  the  Trans-Alleghany 
regions.  Patton  was  a  seafaring  man  and  had  been  a  lieutenant  in 
the  British  navy,  and  was  the  son-in-law  of  Benjamin  Burden,  the 
latter  being  the  agent  of  Lord  Fairfax  in  the  management  of  his 


and  Soutliwest  \'ir<>;inia  165 

great  "Northern  Neck"  grant.  JJuclianan  was  a  skilled  surveyor, 
and  was  the  son-in-law  of  Colonel  Patton.  In  1745  Patton  was 
made  county  lieutenant  and  commander  of  the  militia  for  Augusta 
County ;  and  a  little  later  secured  from  the  Crown  a  grant  for 
120.000  acres  of  land  to  be  located  in  Virginia,  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghany iSfounlains.  He  organized  an  exploring  and  surveying  expedi- 
tion in  the  spring  of  1748  to  locate  lands  under  the  grant.  His 
I3arty,  in  addition  to  himself,  consisted  of  Colonel  John  Buchanan, 
Charles  Campbell,  who  was  son-in-law  of  Colonel  13uchanan;  Dr. 
Thomas  Walker,  James  Wood,  and  an  ample  number  of  hunters, 
chain-carriers,  cooks,  etc.  They  had  pack-horses  in  sufficient  num- 
bers to  carry  provisions,  ammunition  and  other  things  that  were 
needed  for  a  long  journey  and  a  protracted  stay  in  the  wilderness. 
The  late  Colonel  Thomas  L.  Preston,  a  great-grandson  of  Charles 
Campbell,  in  his  "Reminiscences  of  An  Octogenarian,"  thus  speaks 
of  the  four  leading  characters  of  the  expedition: 

"Colonel  Patton  was  about  fifty-eight  years  old,  of.  a  tall  and 
commanding  figure  and  great  physical  strength  and  vigor.  He 
was  wealthy  and  well  educated,  and  well  fitted  for  the  long  and 
arduous  expedition  he  planned.  His  party  was  also  well  chosen 
for  the  same  purpose.  John  Buchanan  (his  son-in-law)  was  a 
surveyor,  as  was  also  Charles  CamjDbell,  both  of  whom  had  the 
spirit  and  courage  of  the  early  pioneers,  with  the  physical  attri- 
butes of  strength  and  power  of  endurance. 

"Dr.  Thomas  Walker,  born  January  15,  1715,  was  thirty-three 
years  old  and  in  the  prime  of  manhood.  He  was  richly  endow'ed 
with  every  qualification  for  such  an  expedition,  mentally  and  phy- 
sically, and,  as  physician  and  surveyor,  a  great  accession  to  the 
party." 

The  expedition  started  out  from  Colonel  Patton's  home,  near 
the  present  Waynesboro.  Augusta  County,  where  he  had  a  splendid 
estate  of  1,398  acres,  which  had  been  a  part  of  the  historic  "Manor 
Beverley"  grant,  and  which  Patton  had  acquired  from  William 
Beverley  for  the  sum  of  five  shillings  (831/0  cents). 

If  any  diary  or  written  record  was  made  of  the  movements  and 
accomplishments  of  this  expedition,  it  was  not  preserved;  and, 
therefore,  such  incidents  as  are  of  sufficient  moment  to  become 
written  history  have  to  be  collected  from  well  authenticated  tradi- 
tions. This  was  not  the  first  expedition  that  had  crossed  the  Alle- 
ghany Mountains  in  Virginia;  but  it  was  the  first  tliat  was  followed 


166  History  of  Tazewell  County 

with  practical  results  in  the  way  of  introducing  settlers  into  the 
splendid  section  now  known  as  Southwest  Virginia.  It  is  a  well 
established  historical  fact  that  Major  Abram  Wood,  who  lived  at 
the  falls  of  Appomattox  River,  where  Petersburg,  Virginia,  is  now 
situated,  made  a  trip  of  exploration  and  discovery  to  the  Upper 
New  River  Valley  in  1654,  and  that  the  stream  he  then  discovered 
was  afterwards  known  as  Wood's  River.  No  written  record  was 
preserved  of  Major  Wood's  expedition  but  it  is  authenticated  by 
traditions  and  circumstances  as  substantial,  comparatively,  as  those 
comiected  with  tlie  expedition  of  Colonel  Patton.  Summers  in  his 
history  of  Southwest  Virginia  says: 

"It  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  Colonel  Wood  made  this  trip, 
and,  to  support  this  view,  three  circumstances  may  be  mentioned. 
First,  The  House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia  had  authorized  Colonel 
Wood,  along  with  others,  in  July  of  the  preceding  year  to  discover 
a  new  river  of  unknown  land  'Wliere  no  English  had  ever  been  or 
discovered.'  Secondly.  A  gap  in  tlie  Blue  Ridge,  lying  between 
the  headwaters  of  Smith  river,  a  brancli  of  tlie  Dan,  in  Patrick 
county,  and  of  Little  river,  a  brancli  of  New  river,  in  Floyd  county, 
is  to  this  day  called  Wood's  Gap,  Thirdly.  The  present  New 
river  was  known  at  first  as  Wood's  river." 

There  is  but  little  doubt  that  Major  Wood  was  liunting  for  a 
river  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  that  was  believed  to  exist  and  flow 
into  the  Pacific  Ocean,  just  as  Captain  Newport,  in  1609,  and 
Governor  Spottswood,  in  1716,  had  sought  and  expected  to  find 
such  a  stream.  In  1666  another  exploring  expedition  visited  the 
Upper  New  River  Valley.  It  was  composed  of  Captain  Henry 
Batte,  Thomas  Wood  and  Robert  Fallen.  They  acted  under  a  com- 
mission issued  by  Governor  Berkeley,  had  an  Appomattox  Indian 
for  a  guide,  and  traveled  on  five  horses.  On  the  1st  of  September, 
1666,  the  expedition  started  from  the  falls  of  the  Apjwmattox,  as 
did  that  of  Major  Wood,  twelve  years  previous.  Captain  Batte 
kept  a  journal,  in  which  he  stated  that  the  object  of  the  ex^jedition 
was  "for  ye  finding  out  of  the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  ye  waters 
behind  the  mountains  in  order  to  the  discovery  of  the  South  Sea." 
The  Virginia  colonists,  even  their  governoi-s  and  other  officials,  still 
adhered  to  the  belief  that  the  South  Sea  (the  Pacific  Ocean)  would 
be  found  a  short  distance  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains.  Batte 
and  his  companions  failed,  of  course,  to  find  the  South  Sea,  but 
they   did    re-discover    New    River,   then   known    as    Wood's    River. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  167 

From  their  brief  description  of  the  country  about  where  they  came 
upon  the  river,  historians  have  been  unable  to  locate  the  exact,  or 
approximately,  correct  point.  It  is  possible  that  it  was  at  or  near 
the  place  now  known  as  Austinville,  in  Wythe  County,  at  the  Lead 
Mines.  Batte  says  they  found  Indian  fields  with  corn  stalks  in 
them.  There  was  a  heavy  flood  in  New  River  in  1916,  and  the 
river  overflowed  the  bottom  lands  doing  great  damage  to  crops 
along  the  shores  for  a  hundred  or  more  miles  down  the  valley.  At 
a  point  not  far  from  Austinville,  in  a  river  bottom,  a  channel  was 
cut  by  the  flood,  revealing  an  Indian  graveyard  and  exposing  a 
number  of  skeletons.  Evidently  there  had  been  a  Cherokee  village 
in  the  locality,  and  hence  the  corn  fields.  Spottswood's  expedition 
was  not  the  first  to  cross  the  Blue  Ridge,  but  it  was  the  first  to 
enter  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  It  is  also  evident  that  Colonel  Pat- 
ton's  was  not  the  first  expedition  to  cross  the  Alleghany  Mountains, 
but  it  was  the  first  that  crossed  New  River,  and  it  was  the  first  to 
enter  the  territory  now  embraced  in  Tazewell  County. 

It  is  claimed  by  local  historians  that  many  years  previous  to 
the  Patton  expedition  that  traders  came  from  east  of  the  mountains 
and  visited  the  Cherokee  to^vTis  in  Tennessee.  These  traders  em- 
ployed Indian  guides,  and  transported  their  merchandise  on  pack- 
horses,  traveling  along  the  Holston  Valley  while  going  to  and  from 
the  Cherokee  country.  Many  hunters  had  also  made  hunting  trips 
from  the  eastern  part  of  Virginia  to  the  Clinch  Valley  and  Holston 
Valley  previous  to  the  visit  of  Colonel  Patton  and  his  company. 
They  were  attracted  here  by  the  great  abundance  of  game,  which 
they  killed  largely  for  their  hides,  furs  then  being  very  valuable 
for  exportation  to  Europe.  Among  these  hunters  was  one  William 
Clinch,  whose  name  was  given  to  the  great  valley  and  the  beautiful 
river  that  has  its  source  in  Tazewell  County. 

But  to  return  to  Colonel  Patton  and  his  expedition,  made  in 
1748.  After  leaving  his  home  in  Augusta  County,  Patton  traveled 
through  Rockbridge  County  until  lie  reached  the  James  River  Val- 
ley. Surveys  had  been  made  some  ten  years  previously  of  valuable 
tracts  of  land  where  the  towns  of  Pattonsburg  and  Buchanan  are 
now  located.  Pattonsburg  was  named  in  honor  of  Colonel  Patton, 
and  is  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  in  Rockbridge  County.  Buch- 
anan is  on  the  south  side  of  the  James,  directly  opposite  Pattons- 
burg, in  Botetourt  County;  and  received  its  name  from  Colonel 
John  Buchanan.     These  two  towns  are  among  the  oldest  in  Virginia, 


168  History  of  Tazewell  (  ounty 

not  ten  years  younger  than  Richmond  and  Petersburg.  Patton  on 
this  occasion  also  located  lands  in  the  Catawba  Valley  and  at 
Amsterdam  in  Botetourt  County.  From  thence  he  went  to  the 
Roanoke  Valley,  and  made  surveys  on  Stroubles  Creek,  and  located 
a  large  boundary  at  the  present  Blacksburg,  which  was  first  called 
Draper's  Meadows  and  afterwards  Smithfield,  the  latter  name  being 
given  the  place  at  the  time  Colonel  William  Preston  became  its 
owner.  Leaving  Draper's  Meadows,  the  Patton  party  crossed 
New  River  at  Ingles'  Ferrj^,  which  is  about  a  mile  up  the  river 
from  Radford,  and  traveled  on  toward  the  Holston  River,  or,  as  it 
was  then  known,  Indian  River,  locating  choice  lands  at  different 
points  on  the  route.  A  large  survey  was  made  just  south  of  INIax 
ISIeadows,  in  Wythe  County,  and  Colonel  Patton  named  the  tract 
"Anchor  and  Hope,"  and  gave  it  to  his  daughter,  who  was  the 
wife  of  Colonel  Buchanan.  A  few  years  later  Colonel  Buchanan 
moved  from  Pattonsburg,  where  he  had  previously  settled,  and  built 
Iiimself  a  home  near  where  the  present  "Anchor  and  Hope  Churth" 
now  stands. 

From  "Anchor  and  Hope,"  Colonel  Patton  and  his  party  made 
their  way  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Middle  Fork  of  Holston  River. 
In  that  locality  a  very  fine  boundary  of  land,  consisting  of  1 ,300  acres 
was  surveyed  and  given  the  name  of  "Davis'  Fancy."  It  was 
patented  to  James  Davis,  who  may  j^ossibly  have  gone  there  with 
the  Patton  party.  A  large  portion  of  this  tract  is  now  owned  and 
occupied  by  George  W.  Davis,  great-great-grandson  of  James  Davis. 
From  "Davis'  Fancy,"  Colonel  Patton  led  his  party  down  the  Hol- 
ston Valley  to  the  beautiful  country  about  the  present  Seven  Mile 
Ford,  in  Smyth  County.  While  camping  at  that  place  they  were 
visited  by  Charles  Sinclair,  a  hermit  hunter,  who  had  built  himself 
a  cabin  on  the  South  Fork  of  Holston  River  three  miles  south  of 
Seven  ]\Iile  Ford.  The  Hon.  B.  F.  Buchanan,  of  Marion,  Virginia, 
and  whose  ancestress  was  a  sister  of  Colonel  John  Buchanan,  had 
frequent  interviews  with  the  late  Colonel  Thomas  L.  Preston;  and 
from  him  learned  certain  interesting  facts  that  transpired  after 
Sinclair  joined  the  Patton  party.  As  related  by  Colonel  Preston 
to  Mr.  Buchanan,  they  are  substantially  as  follows: 

"Colonel  Preston  told  me  that  on  reaching  some  point  on  the 
Holston  this  exploring  party  was  visited  by  a  man  named  Sinclair, 
who  told  the  party  that  he  was  well  acquainted  with  this  section  of 
the  country  and  knew  the  best  lands,  as  he  had  hunted  all  over  it; 


and  Southwest  Virginia  169 

that  Ik;  was  on  friendly  ttrnis  witli  tlic  Jiulians  and  toidd  insure 
the  party  against  attacks  by  them ;  and  proposed  to  <>iiide  llu in  and 
show  tliem  the  clioice  lands,  if  they  would  make  a  survey  and  have 
the  patent  issued  to  him  of  a  tract  of  land  on  the  South  Fork  of 
the  Holston  River,  where  he  was  located.  This  was  agreed  to,  the 
survey  was  made,  and  a  tract  still  known  as  St.  Clairs  Bottom, 
three  miles  south  of  Seven  Mile  Ford,  was  surveyed  and  afterwards 
patented  to  Sinclair." 

Colonel  Preston,  who  was  the  great-grandson  of  Charles  Camp- 
bell, one  of  the  explorers  in  the  party,  stated,  from  family  traditions, 
what  transpired  after  the  expedition  reached  Cumberland  Gap.  He 
said  that:  "On  reaching  the  summit  of  the  mountain  where  the  three 
states  of  Virginia,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  now  join,  they  pitched 
their  tents,  and  Patton,  in  gratitude  for  the  princely  grant  which 
had  been  given  him,  named  the  mountain  and  river  that  rises  along 
its  western  base  for  the  Duke  of  Cumberland."  The  traditions  in 
the  Preston  and  Campbell  families  also  held  that  when  the  Patton 
party  returned  from  Cumberland  Gap  they  were  shown  the  choice 
lands  on  the  North  Fork  of  Holston  River  in  the  present  Smyth 
County,  and  were  also  conducted  to  Burke's  Garden  by  the  hunter, 
Sinclair.  These  occurrences  as  related  by  Colonel  Preston  are 
substantially  as  follows: 

On  the  return  of  the  party  from  Cumberland  Gap,  Sinclair 
conducted  it  across  Walker's  Mountain  into  Rich  Valley,  by  way  of 
Salt\ille,  where  they  located  a  tract  of  330  acres  of  land,  in  the 
name  of  Charles  Campbell  and  named  it  the  "Buffalo  Lick."  They 
then  traveled  up  the  North  Fork  of  Holston  River,  located  the 
Taylor  bottoms  near  and  above  the  jDresent  Broadford,  which 
included  "Campbells  Choice,"  a  boundary  of  1,400  acres  of,  pos- 
sibly, the  finest  land  in  Virginia.  After  surveying  "Campbells 
Choice,"  the  party  went  into  and  through  Locust  Cove;  and  all  of 
the  Cove  was  located  for  Colonel  John  Buchanan.  He  gave  this 
magnificent  boundary,  which  is  underlaid  with  the  finest  gypsum 
on  earth,  to  his  sister,  Martha  Buchanan,  the  wife  of  Captain  John 
Buchanan.  A  few  years  later  Captain  Buchanan  and  his  wife  moved 
to  the  cove,  and  Archibald  Buchanan,  a  brother  of  the  cajDtain, 
also  located  in  that  vicinitj'.  The  greater  part  of  "Locust  Cove" 
is  still  owned  and  occupied  by  descendants  of  Captain  Buchanan  and 
his  wife,  Martha;  and  practically  all  the  Buchanans  in  Tazewell 
and  Smyth  counties  are  their  descendants.     From  the  Cove  the  party 


170        '         Historj^  of  Tazewell  County 

made  its  way  to  Burke's  Garden,  According  to  Colonel  Thomas  L. 
Preston:  "It  was  late  in  the  fall,  and  the  next  morning,  after 
reaching  the  Garden,  a  heavy  snow  had  fallen,  and  they  determined 
to  suspend  their  surveying  until  the  next  year.  After  cooking  their 
breakfast,  a  man  named  Burke,  who  was  with  the  party  as  an  axman 
or  chain-carrier,  cleared  away  the  place  where  their  fire  had  been 
made,  and  planted  a  lot  of  potato  peelings,  covering  them  lightly 
with  brush.  The  following  Spring  or  Summer,  Patton  and  Buch- 
anan, accompanied  by  William  Ingles,  returned  to  survey  lands,  and 
found  a  large  bed  of  potatoes  where  Burke  had  planted  the  peelings, 
and  they  gave  it  the  name  "Burke's  Garden."  Surveys  were  made 
in  the  Garden,  and  patents  issued  afterwards  to  William  Ingles  and 
to  William  Thompson,  a  son-in-law  of  Patton." 

There  can  be  no  question  of  the  fact  that  Colonel  Patton  and 
his  party  were  the  first  men  who  ever  visited  Burke's  Garden  with 
a  view  of  locating  land  and  preparing  it  for  settlement  by  white 
men.  But  it  is  asserted  and  believed  by  many,  who  speak  from 
tradition,  that  James  Burke  had  previously  made  hvmting  trips  to 
the  Garden  and  had  built  and  occupied  a  cabin  on  the  farm  now 
owned  by  Rufus  Thompson.  This  matter  of  dispute,  however,  will 
be  given  more  ample  notice  furtlier  on  in  this  volume. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    WALKER   AND    GIST    EXPEDITIONS, 

All  the  lands  surveyed  by  the  Patton  expedition  in  1748  were 
located  under  authority  of  the  grant  for  120,000  acres  that  Colonel 
Patton  received  frora  George  II.  After  returning  to  their  homes 
in  the  east,  Colonel  Jaracs  Patton,  Dr.  Thomas  Walker,  and  others, 
organized  and  incorporated  what  was  known  as  the  "Loyal  Com- 
pany;" and  secured  from  the  English  Crown  a  grant  for  800,000 
acres  of  land  lo  be  located  north  of  the  North  Carolina  line  and  west 
of  tJie  Alleghany  Mountains.  Dr.  Walker  was  made  agent  for  this 
company,  and  both  he  and  his  company  played  a  consjDicuous  part 
in  the  early  seitJement  and  development  of  that  portion  of  South- 
west Virginia  west  of  New  Eiver.  The  first  land  ever  surveyed  in 
Tazewell  County,  so  far  as  existing  records  show,  was  under  the 
800.000  acre  grant  lo  the  Loyal  Company.  On  October  14th,  1750, 
a  tract  containing  650  acres,  located  at  "Crabapple  Orchard,  Waters 
of  Clinch  River,"  was  surveyed  for  one  John  Shelton  and,  on  the 
16th  of  the  same  month  and  year,  another  tract  of  1,000  acres  was 
surveyed  for  Shelton  on  a  "Branch  of  Clinch  River."  Thomas 
Lewis  was  then  surveyor  of  Augusta  County,  but  the  surveying  of 
these  two  tracts  was  done  by  Colonel  John  Buchanan,  as  deputy  for 
Lewis.  The  "Crabapple  Orchard"  tract  is  the  same  boundary, 
which  Bickley,  in  his  History  of  Tazewell  County,  published  in 
1852,  says  was  occupied  in  1768  by  two  hunters,  Butler  and  Carr; 
and  that  Butler  sold  it  to  Thomas  Witten  in  1771.  The  1,000  acre 
tract  was,  no  doubt,  also  on  Plum  Creek;  and  a  part  of  the  lands 
afterward  owned  by  the  sons  of  Thomas  Witten,  a  goodly  portion 
of  which  is  still  possessed  by  their  descendants. 

In  the  spring  of  1750,  Dr.  Walker  organized  an  exploring  party 
at  his  home  in  Albemarle  County  to  further  explore  the  Virginia 
territory  west  of  New  River.  This  was  done,  apparently,  for  the 
purpose  of  discovering  choice  lands  to  be  located  for  the  Loyal 
Company,  and  to  select  desirable  places  for  settlements.  Dr. 
Walker  kept  a  record  of  the  route  followed  by  him  and  the  daily 
performances  of  the  expedition.  Walker's  journal  shows  that  no 
effort  was  made  by  him,  or  by  any  one  of  his  party,  to  survey  lands 
during  the  expedition;  and  that  they  traveled  every  day,  except 
when  prevented  by  inclement  weather  or  while  resting  on  the  Sab- 

(171) 


172  History  of  Tazewell  County 

t 

bath,  until  the  journey  was  completed.  The  first  paragraijli  of  the 
journal  reads  thus:  "Having  on  the  12th  of  December  last  been 
employed  for  a  certain  consideration  to  go  to  the  westward  in  order 
to  discover  a  proper  place  for  a  settlement.  I  left  my  liome  on  the 
6'th  day  of  March.  1749-'50,  in  company  witli  Ambrose  Powell. 
William  Tomlinson.  Colby  Chew,  Henry  Lawless  &  John  Hughes. 
Each  man  had  a  horse  and  we  had  two  to  carry  tiie  baggage;  I 
lodged  this  night  at  Col.  Joshua  Fry's,  in  the  Albemarle,  which 
county  includes  the  Chief  of  the  head  Branches  of  James  River 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge." 

Historians  and  investigators  have  been  so  confused  by  the 
peculiar  entry  in  Dr.  Walker's  journal,  "the  6th  day  of  March, 
17i9-'50,"  that  they  have  been  unable  to  determine  whether  it  meant 
March  6th  1749,  or  March  6th,  1750.  However,  it  has  been  gener- 
ally accepted  that  he  started  on  his  expedition  the  6th  day  of  March, 
1750.  This,  I  believe,  is  correct.  There  is  one  very  prominent  fact 
which  shows  that  Dr.  Walker  and  his  companions  began  their 
journey  on  the  6th  of  March,  1750.  The  "Loyal  Company,"  in 
whose  interest  the  expedition  was  made,  did  not  secure  its  grant  for 
the  800,000  acres  until  the  12th  of  July,  1749.  The  company  would 
hardly  have  started  out  an  exploring  part}'  and  jiromised  its  agent. 
Dr.  Walker,  a  valuable  consideration,  previous  to  receiving  the 
grant.  At  that  period  the  British  Government  was  anxious  to 
extend  the  frontiers  of  Virginia  as  far  west  and  north  as  possible, 
to  block  the  advances  that  were  being  made  south  from  the  lakes 
and  east  from  the  Mississippi  by  the  French.  To  that  end  large 
grants  of  land  were  given  to  individuals  and  companies  who  would 
agree  to  solicit  and  secure  settlers  on  the  frontiers.  In  pursuance 
of  this  policy,  the  governor  and  council  of  Virginia,  on  the  12th  day 
of  July,  1749,  granted  to  the  "Ohio  Company"  500,000  acres  of 
land  and  to  the  "Loyal  Company"  800,000  acres.  The  "Ohio  Com- 
pany" was  to  locate  its  surveys  south  of  the  Ohio  River,  and,  as 
previously  stated,  the  Loj^al  Company  was  to  take  up  its  lands  north 
of  the  North  Carolina  line  and  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 

This  put  two  strong,  rival  companies  in  the  field,  both  being 
commercial  or  financial  enterprises.  Thougli  there  was  a  vast 
unexplored  region  available  to  entry  by  the  rival  companies,  each 
manifested  eagerness  to  get  first  in  the  field  with  exploring  and 
surveying  parties.  The  Oliio  Company  engaged  the  services  of 
Cliristoplier  Gist,  a  IMarylander  and  a  noted  surveyor,  as  their  agent. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  173 

He  was  instructed  to  hasten  with  a  corps  of  men  to  the  country 
bordering  on  the  Ohio,  now  West  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  and  search 
for  choice  lands  along  the  Ohio  River  and  other  tributaries  of  tlie 
Mississipjii.  His  instructions  were  very  ample  and  urgent;  but 
Gist  did  not  start  with  his  expedition  until  some  time  in  October, 
1750.  From  tliis  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Walker  party  started  out 
seven  months  in  advance  of  the  Gist  expedition.  These  facts  sub- 
stantially prove  that  Walker  made  his  second  explorations  in  South- 
west Virginia,  in  1750;  and  it  is  certainly  true  that  the  first  surveys 
in  this  section  for  the  Loyal  Company  were  made  during  that  year. 
Persons  who  are  familiar  with  the  geography  of  Virginia,  and 
especially  of  the  Southwest  portion  of  the  State,  can,  by  inspecting 
Dr.  Walker's  journal,  easily  trace  the  route  pursued  by  his  party 
until  they  reached  Cumberland  Gap.  From  Walker's  home,  in 
Albemarle  County,  they  traveled  through  the  present  counties  of 
Nelson  and  Amherst  to  the  James  River,  and  crossed  that  stream 
at  or  near  where  Lynchburg  is  now  located  on  the  12th  of  March. 
On  the  morning  of  the  13th,  Dr.  Walker  says,  in  his  journal:  "We 
went  early  to  William  Calloway's  and  supplied  ourselves  with  Rum, 
Thread  and  other  necessaries  &  from  thence  took  the  main  Wagon 
Road  leading  to  Wood's  or  the  New  River.  It  is  not  well  cleared 
or  beaten  yet,  but  will  be  a  very  good  one  with  proper  management." 
It  seems  that  the  Doctor  and  his  companions  thought  Rum  a  neces^ 
sary  article  to  be  taken  on  the  trip,  and  he,  a  physician,  mentioned 
it  as  the  first  of  the  necessaries.  They  then  traveled  on  through 
Buford's  Valley,  just  east  of  tlv?  Blue  Ridge,  crossed  that  mountain 
at  Buford's  Gap,  pronouncing  "the  ascent  and  descent  is  so  easy 
that  a  stranger  would  not  know  when  he  crossed  the  Ridge."  The 
author  crossed  the  "Ridge"  at  this  jDoint  in  the  fall  of  1863,  and 
can  affirm  that  Dr.  Walker's  statement  as  to  the  character  of  the 
pass  is  very  accurate.  After  crossing  the  Ridge  the  party  entered 
the  Roanoke  Valley  at  or  near  Bonsacks,  and  from  there  went  to 
the  "Great  Lick  on  a  Branch  of  the  Staunton."  The  Roanoke  River 
was  then  called  the  Staunton,  as  it  was  a  tributary  of  the  Staunton 
River.  At  the  Great  Lick  they  bought  corn  for  their  horses  from 
Michael  Campbell ;  and  then  proceeded  up  the  river  to  a  point  above 
Salem,  where  Walker  says  they  "Lodged  at  James  Robinson's,  the 
only  place  where  thej^  had  corn  to  spare."  Thence  they  followed 
the  stream  "to  William  Englishe's."  This  was  William  Ingles,  who 
had  then  settled  at  Draper's  Meadows,  and  whose  family  and 
descendants  in  a  few  years  became  tragically  associated  with  the 


174  History  of  Tazewell  County 

history  of  Southwest  Virginia  and  Tazewell  County.  Evidently  the 
Upper  Roanoke  Valley  was  then  attracting  many  Scotch-Irish  set- 
tlers from  Pennsylvania  and  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 

Leaving  the  home  of  Ingles,  the  Walker  party  passed  down  the 
Alleghany  Mountains,  crossed  New  River  at,  or  near,  the  point 
where  William  Ingles  afterwards  built  a  fort,  and  on  the  west  side 
of  the  river  came  in  contact  with  a  small  colony  of  Dunkards,  who 
had  recently  settled  at  a  place  which  is  still  known  as  "Dunkard's 
Bottom."  Walker  and  his  company  remained  several  days  as  the 
guests  of  this  humble  Christian  people;  and  then  moved  on,  by 
way  of  Reed  Creek,  towards  the  Holston  Valley.  On  the  night  of 
the  22nd  of  March  they  camped  at  a  large  spring  "about  five  miles 
below  Davis'  Bottom  on  Holston  River."  This  is,  no  doubt,  the 
large  spring  at  the  northeast  end  of  Marion,  Virginia,  near  the  pas- 
senger station  of  the  Norfolk  and  Western  Railway,  and  now  the 
property  of  that  company. 

The  following  day,  the  23rd  of  March,  they  traveled  down  the 
Middle  Fork  of  Holston  River  about  four  miles  and  again  went 
into  camp;  and  Dr.  Walker  wrote  in  his  journal  that  day:  "Mr. 
Powell  and  I  went  to  look  for  Samuel  Stalnaker,  who  I  had  been 
informed  had  moved  out  to  settle.  We  found  his  Camp  and  returned 
to  our  own  in  the  Evening.  The  following  day  (the  21'th)  he  entered 
in  his  journal:  "We  went  to  Stalnaker's,  helped  him  to  raise  his  house 
and  Camped  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  below  him.  In  April,  1748. 
I  met  the  above  mentioned  Stalnaker  between  the  Reedy  Creek 
Settlement  and  Holston  River,  on  his  way  to  the  Cherokee  Indians, 
and  expected  him  to  pilot  me  as  far  as  he  knew,  but  his  affairs 
would  not  permit  him  to  go  with  me." 

It  is  wonderful  how  in  those  primitive  days  persons  traveling 
through  an  almost  pathless  wilderness,  could,  in  some  way,  learn 
that  a  bold  pioneer  had  plunged  into  the  wilds,  with  axe  and  rifle, 
to  build  a  home  for  himself  and  family.  Stalnaker  had  already  cut 
and  prepared  the  logs  for  his  rude  dwelling  when  Walker  and  his 
party  came  upon  the  scene  and  helped  him  "to  raise  his  house." 
That  was  the  first  "house-raising"  that  occurred  in  the  Holston 
Valley.  The  exact  location  of  Stalnaker's  home  has  never  been 
ascertained,  but  could  not  have  been  very  far  from  Seven  Mile  Ford, 
and  was  near  the  place  where  Charles  Sinclair  joined  Colonel  Pat- 
ton  and  Dr.  Walker  in  1748.  Of  the  future  history  of  this  man 
Stalnaker  very  little  is  known.  Svmimers,  in  his  valuable  history 
of  Southwest  Virginia,  says: 


and  Southwest  Virginia  175 

"On  the  29tli  of  July,  1756,  a  Council  of  War  assembled  at 
Staunton,  by  direction  of  the  Governor  of  Virginia,  to  determine  at 
what  points  forts  should  be  built  along  the  frontiers  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  settlers. 

"The  Council  was  composed  of  Colonel  John  Buchanan,  Samuel 
Stalnaker  and  others,  of  which  Council  Wm.  Preston  acted  as  clerk. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Captain  Samuel  Stalnaker  represented 
the  Holston  settlement  and  that  it  was  at  his  request  that  the  stock- 
ade fort  was  built  at  Dunkards'  Bottom,  on  New  River,  and  at 
Davis'  Bottom,  at  the.  headwaters  of  the  Middle  Fork  of  Holston 
River." 

It  appears  that  a  party  of  Indians  made  a  hostile  visit  to  the 
Upper  Holston  Valley  in  June,  1755,  and  made  Samuel  Stalnaker 
a  prisoner,  but  he  escaped  from  the  savages.  In  a  register  of  the 
persons  killed  by  the  Indians  in  this  foray  the  names  of  Adam  Stal- 
naker and  Mrs.  Stalnaker  appear.  They  were  the  wife  and  son  of 
Samuel  Stalnaker. 

But  to  return  to  Dr.  Walker  and  his  exploring  party.  On  the 
26th  of  March,  twenty  days  after  starting  from  Albemarle  County, 
they  separated  from  Samuel  Stalnaker,  and  saw  no  more  settlers 
until  their  remarkable  circuit  journey  was  almost  completed.  Wliile 
going  up  a  creek  that  is  a  branch  of  the  Greenbrier  River,  about 
noon,  July  7th,  Dr.  Walker  notes  in  his  journal,  "5  men  overtook 
us  and  informed  us  we  were  only  8  miles  from  the  inhabitants  on 
a  Branch  of  James  River  called  Jackson's  River."'  From  Stal- 
naker's  settlement,  then  the  farthest  west  in  Southwest  Virginia, 
they  traveled  "nigh  west"  to  a  large  spring  on  a  Branch  of  the 
north  fork  of  Holston.  Thence  they  went  to  Reedy  Creek  and  down 
that  creek  to  the  Holston  River.  There  they  found  an  elm  tree  of 
such  immense  size  that  curiosity  prompted  them  to  measure  its 
girth;  and  they  found  it  was  25  feet  in  circumference.  They 
crossed  the  North  Fork  of  the  Holston  at  a  ford  about  a  half  mile 
above  where  the  North  and  the  South  Fork  come  together.  From 
that  point  they  traveled  a  northwest  course,  crossed  over  Clinch 
Mountain,  and  got  to  Clinch  River  near  the  present  Sneedsville,  in 
Hancock  County,  Tennessee.  This  was  on  the  9th  of  April,  and  Dr. 
Walker  states  in  his  journal:  "We  travelled  to  a  river,  which  I 
suppose  to  be  that  which  the  hunters  Call  Clinche's  River,  from  one 
Clinch  a  Hunter,  who  first  found  it." 

From  "Clinches  River"  they  continued  their  journey  toward  Cum- 


176  History  of  Tazewell  County 

berland  Gap.  which  seemed  to  be  their  objective.  On  the  route 
pursued  tliey  passed  over  and  along  a  number  of  streams,  some  of 
wliich  had  already  been  given  names;  but  by  whom,  when  and  why 
they  were  so  named  Dr.  Walker  did  not  state  as  he  did  about 
"Clinche's  River."  The  11th  of  Ajiril  he  wrote  in  liis  journal,  "We 
came  to  Turkey  Creek,  which  we  kept  down  4  miles ;"  and  on  the 
12th,  after  crossing  over  a  certain  mountain  he  made  a  note: 
"From  this  mountain  we  rode  4  miles  to  Beargrass  River."  While 
traveling  up  this  river  he  found  "some  small  pieces  of  coal  and  a 
great  plenty  of  very  good  yellow  flint,  and  added:  "The  water  is 
the  most  transparent  I  ever  saw.  It  is  about  70  yds.  wide."  Sum- 
mers says:  "On  the  12th  day  of  April  tliey  reached  Powell's  river, 
ten  miles  from  Cumbei'land  Gap.  It  is  well  to  note  at  this  point  that 
Ambrose  Powell,  one  of  Dr.  Walker's  companions,  cut  liis  name 
upon  a  tree  on  the  bank  of  this  river,  which  name  and  tree  were 
found  in  the  year  1770  by  a  party  of  fifteen  or  twenty  Virginians 
on  their  way  to  Kentucky  on  a  hunting  cxi^edition,  from  which  cir- 
cumstance the  Virginia  Long  Hunters  gave  it  the  name  of  Powell's 
river,  which  it  still  retains."  Tiuis  the  stream  which  Dr.  Walker 
called  Beargrass  River,  had  its  name  changed  to  Powell's  River. 

On  tlie  l.'Uli  of  April,  five  weeks  after  leaving  his  home  in 
Al])cinarlc  County,  Dr.  Walker  with  Ids  company'  arrived  at  Cum- 
berland (iaj),  and  in  his  journal  called  it  "Cave  Gap."  Some  of  the 
historians  who  liave  written  about  tlie  expedition  hold  that  this  was 
the  first  exploring  party  tliat  reached  the  gap ;  and  that  it  was  on 
this  occasion  that  Dr.  Walker  gave  the  name,  "Cumberland,'  to 
the  gap,  the  mountain,  and  the  river  that  now  bear  the  name.  Dr. 
Hale,  in  his  "Trans-Alleghany  Pioneers,  "  and  L.  P.  Summers,  in  his 
"History  of  Soutliwest  Virginia."  accept  this  claim  as  true;  and 
it  is  possible  that  quite  a  number  of  writers  have,  successively- 
followed  eacii  other  to  that  conclusion.  Theodore  Roosevelt  in 
his  "Winning  of  the  West  says:  "One  explorer  had  found  and 
named  the  Cumberland  river  and  mountains  and  the  great  pass  called 
Cumberland  Gap."  This  explorer  I\fr.  Roosevelt  says  was  Dr. 
Thomas  Walker  of  Virginia.  But  Roosevelt  states  in  this  connec- 
tion that  Walker  had  been  to  the  Cumberland  region  in  1748,  at  the 
time  Colonel  Thomas  L.  Preston  and  others  have  said,  that  Colonel 
James  Patton,  along  with  Dr.  Walker,  Jolm  Buchanan  and  others 
discovered  the  Gap  and  named  it  for  the  Duke  of  Cumberland. 
Colonel  Preston  based  his  claim  upon  information  he  received  by 
tradition,  that  came  down  to  him  through  two  preceding  generations 


and  Southwest  Virginia  177 

of  the  descendants  of  Charles  Campbell  and  Colonel  John  Buchanan, 
who  were  with  Colonel  Patton  and  Dr.  Walker  in  their  expedition 
of  174-8.  Colonel  Preston  was  a  descendant  of  Campbell  and  Each 
anan,  his  mother  being  tlie  granddaughter  of  Charles  Campbell  and 
the  great-granddaughter  of  Colonel  Buchanan.  Therefore,  Colonel 
Preston's  information  was  as  substantially  correct  as  any  can  be 
that  is  derived  from  tradition.  When  this  is  reinforced  by  the 
admission  that  Walker  had  visited  the  Cumberland  region  in  174-8 
with  Colonel  Patton,  it  makes  the  contention  that  Colonel  Patton 
discovered  and  named  Cumberland  Gap  very  hard  to  overthrow. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  very  strong  supporting  evidence  in 
Walker's  Journal  of  the  position  taken  by  the  historians  afore- 
mentioned, that  Dr.  Thomas  Walker  named  it  Cumberland  Gap. 
He  passed  through  the  gap,  which  he  then  called  "Cave  Gap,"  on 
the  13th  of  April,  1750,  and  entered  Kentucky,  for  the  first  time,  as 
there  is  no  claim  that  the  Patton  expedition  went  through  tlie  gap 
or  over  the  Cumberland  Mountains  in  1748.  After  passing  through 
the  gap,  Dr.  Walker  says,  in  his  journal:  "On  the  North  West 
side  we  came  to  a  Branch  that  made  a  great  deal  of  flat  land.  We 
kept  down  it  2  miles,  several  other  branches  coming  in  to  make  it  a 
large  creek,  and  we  called  it  Flat  Creek.  We  camped  on  the  Bank, 
where  we  found  very  good  Coal." 

On  the  14.th  they  traveled  down  the  creek,  "5  miles  chiefly  along 
the  Indian  Road."  The  15th  was  Easter  Sunday,  but  that  holy 
day  was  not  observed  by  the  explorers,  as  they  continued  their 
journey  for  a  reason  assigned  by  Dr.  Walker  in  his  journal:  "Being 
in  bad  grounds  for  our  Hoi-ses  we  moved  7  miles  along  the  Indian 
Road  to  Clover  Creek.  Clover  and  Hop  Vines  are  plenty  here." 
It  is  known  that  the  common  red  clover  is  indigenous  to  this  country, 
but  tlie  hop  vine  is  still  pronounced  a  doubtful  native  of  North 
America.  If  these  two  valuable  plants  were  growing  a  "plenty"  in 
a  Kentucky  wilderness,  where  white  men  had  never  dwelt  and  where 
no  recent  aboriginal  inhabitants  had  been  even  temporarily  located, 
liow  did  the  clover  and  the  hops  get  there? 

It  rained  the  IGth  and  the  party  remained  in  camp,  the  horses, 
no  doubt,  feasting  on  the  clover.  On  the  17th  it  still  rained,  and 
Dr.  Walker  relates:  "I  went  down  the  Creek  a  hunting  and  found 
that  it  went  into  a  River  about  a  mile  below  our  Camp.  This,  which 
is  Flat  Creek  and  some  others  joined,  I  called  Cumberland  River." 
It  looks  very  much  like  Dr.  Walker  had  concluded  to  give  names 
to  important  streams,  passes  and  other  landmarks  that  he   found 

T.H. — 12 


178  History  of  Tazewell  County 

while  on  his  exploring  tour;  and  is  conclusive  evidence  that  he  was 
the  first  to  name  the  river  the  Cumberland.  But  it  does  not  definitely 
settle  the  disputed  question  of  who  gave  the  name  to  Cumberland 
Gap.  This,  however,  is  an  inconsequential  matter,  and  one  can 
take  either  side  of  the  controversy  without  detracting  from  the 
fame  of  either  Colonel  Patton  or  Dr.  Walker.  What  they,  each, 
accomplished  in  the  way  of  exploring  the  regions  west  of  the  Allcf- 
ghanies,  and  introducing  settlers  into  this  marvelously  rich  territory, 
will  cause  their  names  to  be  honored  as  long  as  the  people  of  South- 
west Virginia,  West  Virginia  and  Kentucky  retain  any  interest  in 
the  local  history  of  their  immediate  country. 

Having  discovered  the  Cumberland  River,  Dr.  Walker  on  the 
18th  of  April  began  to  explore  the  river,  moving  along  and  down  it, 
on  the  south  side  thereof,  a  distance  of  seventeen  miles.  On  the  21st 
of  April  they  determined  to  cross  to  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
and  built  a  bark  canoe  to  get  their  baggage  over.  On  the  22nd, 
which  was  the  Sabbath,  one  of  the  horses  was  unable  to  walk; 
and  Dr.  Walker  proposed  that  he  and  two  others  should  continue 
the  exploration,  and  the  balance  of  the  company  remain  in  camp 
until  they  returned.  Ambrose  Powell  and  Colbey  Chew  were  selected 
for  Walker's  companions.  The  entire  party  crossed  the  river  to 
the  north  side;  and  Walker,  Powell  and  Chew  started  down  the 
Cumberland.  They  traveled  about  35  miles  and  then  returned  to 
the  camp.  After  breaking  camp  on  the  31st  of  April,  Walker  and  his 
companions  continued  to  explore  the  country  west  and  north  of  the 
Cumberland  Mountains.  Though  Dr.  Walker  was  a  skilled  sur- 
veyor, for  some  reason,  he  failed  to  make  any  note  in  his  journal  of 
the  courses  they  followed;  and,  consequently,  it  is  almost  impossible 
for  any  one,  though  familiar  with  the  section  of  country  traveled, 
to  follow  the  meanderings  of  the  partj'.  He  continued  to  give  names 
to  the  new  streams  he  discovered,  naming  one  for  each  of  his  three 
associate  explorers,  Powell,  Tomlinson  and  Lawless. 

Sometime  in  May,  not  definitely  stated  in  his  journal.  Dr. 
Walker  and  his  party  changed  their  course  to  the  east,  and 
crossed  the  Cumberland  Mountain  into  the  present  territory  of 
Virginia,  leaving  what  is  now  Kentucky.  At  what  point  tney  enterea 
this  State  is  not  certainly  known,  being  merely  conjectural;  and  it 
is  impossible  to  even  approximately  fix  the  devious  course  followed 
by  the  expedition  previous  to  its  arrival  on  the  west  bank  of  New- 
River,  just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Greenbrier.  The  most  reason- 
able conclusion  is,  that  on  the  journey  from  the  Cumberland  region, 


and  Southwest  Virginia  179 

they  passed  through  the  present  counties  of  Wise,  Dickenson, 
Buchanan  and  Tazewell,  Virginia,  and  Mercer  and  Summers  coun- 
ties, West  Virginia,  all  these  counties  then  being  a  part  of  Augusta 
County.  "^ 

Major  Jed  Hotchkiss,  who  was  a  distinguished  civil  engineer 
and  mineralogist,  and  well  known  throughout  Virginia  before  and 
after  the  Civil  Wai-,  brought  to  public  attention  the  journal  of 
Dr.  Walker.  And  Major  Hotchkiss,  after  a  careful  study  of  the 
matter,  confidently  asserted  that  Dr.  Walker  was  at  the  present 
site  of  Pocahontas,  Tazewell  County,  Virginia,  in  1750,  and  that 
he  was  the  first  man  to  discover  and  make  mention  of  the  great 
coal  deposits  about  Pocahontas  and  in  the  Flat  Top  region.  If 
Walker  did  visit  the  Flat  Top  coal  region,'  it  is  absolutely  certain 
that  he  and  his  company  passed  through  Wise,  Dickenson  and  Buch- 
anan counties  to  get  there;  and  then  through  Mercer  and  Summers 
counties.  West  Virginia,  to  get  to  New  River.  On  the  28th  of  Jvme 
Dr.  Walker  made  the  following  entry  in  his  journal: 

"It  continued  raining  till  noon,  and  we  set  off  as  soon  as  it 
ceased  and  w:ent  down  the  Branch  we  lay  on  to  the  New  River  just 
below  the  mouth  of  Green  Bryer.  Powell,  Tomlinson  and  myself 
stripped,  and  went  into  the  New  River  to  try  if  we  could  wade  over 
at  any  place.  After  some  time  having  found  a  place  we  returned 
to  the  others  and  took  such  things  as  would  take  damage  by  water 
on  our  Shoulders  and  waded  over  Leading  our  Horses.  The  bottom 
is  very  uneven,  the  Rocks  very  slippei-y  and  the  Current  very  strong 
most  of  the  way.  We  Camped  in  Low  Ground  opposite  to  the  moutli 
of  Green  Bryer." 

Leaving  the  New  River,  Dr.  Walker  and  his  companions  traveled 
up  the  Greenbrier  and  its  tributaries,  and  crossed  the  Alleghany 
Mountains  to  the  headwaters  of  James  River.  They  visited  the  Hot 
Springs,  and  then  passed  on  down  into  Rockbridge  County.  From 
there  they  went  to  Augusta  Court  House  (Staunton),  arriving  at 
that  place  on  the  11th  of  July.  The  following  day,  Dr.  Walker 
separated  from  his  company,  and  started,  unaccompanied,  to  his 
home  in  Albemarle  County,  where  he  arrived  at  noon  on  the  13th 
of  July,  1750.  Thus  was  completed  one  of  the  most  eventful  explor- 
ing expeditions  ever  made  to  Southwest  Virginia.  Dr.  Walker 
had  occupied  four  months  and  one  week  from  the  beginning  to  the 
completion  of  the  journey;  and  his  journal  discloses  very  little  of 
the  real  purposes  of  the  expedition.     From  various  entries  in  his 


180  History  of  Tazewell  County 

journal,  it  appears  he  was  hunting  for  valuable  minerals  more 
eagerly  than  for  suitable  places  for  settlements.  He  made  a  very 
difficult  and  dangerous  trip  through  the  rugged  region  west  and 
north  of  the  Clinch  Valley,  where  there  was  but  little  game  and  a 
great  scarcity  of  herbage  for  his  horses,  when  by  coming  up  the 
Clinch  Valley  he  could  have  found  an  abundance  of  both.  On  the 
21st  of  June  Walker  entered  in  his  journal:  "Deer  are  very  scarce 
On  the  Coal  Land.  I  have  seen  but  4  since  the  30th  of  April."  He 
was  evidently  very  much  interested  in  the  "Coal  Land."  But  he 
must  have  had  no  conception  of  the  unmeasured  wealth,  in  the  shape 
of  "black  diamonds,"  that  was  hidden  beneath  the  surface  of  the 
territory  lying  between  the  Cumberland  Mountain  and  New  River, 
and  then  open  for  entry  by  the  Loyal  Company  under  its  800,000 
acre  grant.  If  lie  or  the  company  had  realized  its  value,  they  would 
have  lost  but  little  time  in  locating  the  entire  grant  in  that  seemingly 
poor  and  valueless  region. 

Dr.  Walker's  report  of  his  discoveries  to  the  Loyal  Company 
must  have  been  satisfactory.  Though  it  was  greatly  hampered  by 
the  Ohio  Company,  it  made  strenuous  effort  to  anticipate  that 
company  in  finding  and  locating  the  best  lands  in  the  New  River 
territory  and  in  the  Clinch  and  Holston  valleys.  In  fajt,  in  October, 
following  Dr.  Walker's  return  from  his  exploring  tour  in  1750,  the 
Loyal  Company  had  one  surveyor  and  possiblj'^  others  at  active 
work  in  the  Holston  and  Clinch  valleys.  As  previously  stated, 
John  Buchanan,  on  October  litli,  1750.  surveyed  the  "Crabapple 
Orchard"  tract,  at  Pisgah,  three  miles  west  of  Tazewell,  for  John 
Shelton.  it  being  the  same  boundary'  that  Thomas  Witten  settled 
on  in  1 767.  And  on  the  1  Gth  of  October,  Buchanan  surveyed  another 
tract  of  1,000  acres  on  a  "Branch  of  Clinch  River,"  for  Shelton. 
Both  of  these  tracts  were  located  under  the  grant  of  800.000  to  the 
Loyal  ComjDany.  Summers  says:  "About  this  time  the  'Ohio  Com- 
pany entered  a  caveat  against  the  'Loyal  Company,'  and  the  'Loyal 
Company'  got  into  a  dispute  with  Colonel  James  Patton,  who  had 
an  unfinished  grant  below  where  this  company  were  to  begin,  and 
no  further  progress  was  made  until  June  14th,  1753." 

Notwithstanding  these  obstructions  to  its  enterprise.  Dr.  Walker, 
and  other  surveyors  of  the  company,  by  the  end  of  the  year  1754 
had  located  224  tracts  of  land  in  Southwest  Virginia,  aggregating 
more  than  45.000  acres.  Most  of  these  lands  were  sold  to  prospec- 
tive settlers,  and  a  goodly  number  had  been  promptly  occupied  by 
the  purchasers. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  181 

Tliouii,]!  tlie  "OJiio  Company"  did  not  get  its  exploring  agent. 
Christopher  Gist,  into  the  field  until  Oetober,  1750.  after  starting 
he  was  quite  as  energetie  in  the  proseeution  of  the  work  for  his 
eojnpany  as  Dr.  Walker  had  proved  to  be  in  his  performances  for 
the  Loyal  Company.  As  before  related,  Christo])her  (Jist  set  out 
on  his  exploring  expedition,  from  his  home  on  the  Potomac  River, 
in  Oetober,  1750.  Following  the  instructions  of  his  employers,  he 
crossed  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  passed  through  what  is  now 
West  Virginia  to  the  Ohio  River  and  explored  the  country  ahmg 
that  stream  as  far  down  as  the  Great  Falls,  where  the  city  of  Louis- 
ville is  now  located.  Lie  devoted  the  entire  winter  of  1750-51  to 
exploring  Kentucky.  In  the  spring  of  1751  he  reached  the  Cumber- 
land Mountain  at  Pound  Gap,  and  came  through  that  gap  to  the 
southeast  side  of  the  Cumberland  range,  entering  the  present  Wise 
County,  Virginia.  Then  he  traveled  down  Gist  River  (now  called 
Guest's  River)  to  the  Powell  and  Clinch  valleys.  From  that  region 
he  made  his  way  northeastward,  pursuing  very  nearly  the  same 
route  that  Dr.  Walker  had  followed  the  preceding  summer.  His 
course  was  along  what  is  named  on  the  maps  the  "Dividing  Ridge," 
which  divides  the  watersheds  of  the  Clinch  and  Sandy  valleys. 
It  is  possible  that  he  was  also  making  notes  of  the  coal  and  other 
minerals,  and  that  he  was  at  or  in  the  vicinity  of  Pocahontas.  He 
passed  through  Mercer  and  Summers  counties,  W^est  Virginia,  and 
on  Tuesday,  the  7th  day  of  May,  1751,  crossed  the  New  River  at 
a  point  near  what  is  known  as  Crump's  Bottom,  one  of  the  finest 
boundaries  of  land  in  the  Middle  New  River  section.  This  fine 
estate  is  now  owned  and  occupied,  by  a  Tazewell  man,  George  W. 
Harman,  a  descendant  of  Mathias  Harman,  the  mighty  Indian 
fighter.  Summers  says,  in  his  History  of  Southwest  Virginia,  that, 
after  crossing  New  River,  Gist  traveled  in  an  easterly  direction 
and  that: 

"On  Saturday,  the  11th,  he  came  to  a  very  high  mountain,  upon 
the  top  of  which  was  a  lake  or  pond  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
long  northeast  and  southwest,  and  one-fourth  of  a  mile  wide,  the 
water  fresh  and  clear,  its  borders  a  clean  gravely  shore  about  ten 
yards  wide,  and  a  fine  meadow  with  six  springs  in  it. 

"From  this  description,  it  is  evident  that  Gist  visited  Salt  Lake 
mountain,  in  Giles  county,  Va.,  as  early  as  1751,  and  found  the  lake 
as  it  now  is. 

"It  is  evident  from  this  journal  that  the  traditions  that  we  so 


182  History  of  Tazewell  County 

often  hear  repeated  about  this  lake  are  nothing  more  than  mythical, 
and  that  this  lake  existed  as  it  now  is  at  the  time  of  the  earliest 
explorations  of  the  white  man." 

Commenting  on  these  assertions  of  Summers,  the  late  Judge 
David  E.  Johnston,  in  his  "History  of  the  Middle  New  River  Set- 
tlements," says:  "If  tradition  well  authenticated  is  to  be  taken 
when  supported  by  well  attested  evidence,  then  Christopher  Gist 
never  saw  Mountain  Lake  in  Giles  county.  The  earliest  settlers  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  lake  and  who  lived  longest,  left  the  unbroken 
tradition  tliat  when  they  first  knew  the  place  where  the  lake  now 
exists  there  was  a  deep  depression  between  the  mountains  into  which 
flowed  the  water  from  one  of  the  springs  which  found  its  outlet  at 
the  northeastern  portion  of  the  depression,  and  in  this  gorge  or 
depression  was  a  favorite  salting  ground  in  which  the  settlers  salted 
their  cattle  by  whose  continued  tramping  the  crevices  through 
which  the  water  from  the  springs  found  an  escape,  became  closed 
and  the  depression  began  to  fill  with  water.  This  filling  began 
in  1804  and  by  1818  the  water  in  the  depression  had  risen  to  about 
one-half  its  present  height." 

As  late  as  the  summer  of  1861,  the  writer  of  this  volume  had 
intimate  association  with  a  gentleman  who  had  owned  the  basin 
previous  to  the  existence  of  the  lake  in  question  and  while  it  was 
forming.  This  gentleman  was  Hon.  Henley  Chapman,  the  most 
distinguished  citizen  Giles  County  has  ever  produced,  and  one  of 
tlie  pioneers  of  that  section.  His  father  was  John  Chapman,  who 
moved  with  his  family  from  Culjieper  County  to  the  Shenandoah 
Valley  in  1766;  and  after  living  in  that  valley  two  years  came  on 
to  New  River,  where  he  settled  at  the  mouth  of  Walker's  Creek, 
in  the  present  Giles  County,  in  1768.  His  son,  Henley,  was  born 
there,  where  he  lived  an  honored  citizen  until  the  year  1864.  He 
was  a  lawyer  by  profession,  was  the  first  Commonwealth's  Attorney 
of  Giles  County,  one  of  the  first  attorneys  who  qualified  to  practice 
law  in  the  county  court  of  Tazewell  County  after  its  organization 
in  1800,  and  was  a  member  of  the  convention  that  framed  the  Vir- 
ginia Constitution  of  1829. 

Mr.  Chapman  told  me  that  he  owned  the  place  where  Mountain 
Lake  is  now  seen,  and  ranged  his  cattle,  as  did  other  settlers,  on 
the  mountain  thereabout ;  and  that  he  and  others  used  the  basin 
as  a  salting  ground  for  their  cattle.  His  account  of  the  formation 
of  the  lake  was  precisely  the  same  as  that  given  by  Judge  Johnston. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  183 

I  was  fourteen  years  old  in  1861,  and  was  spending  the  summer  with 
my  uncle,  Albert  G.  Pendleton,  who  then  lived  at  "Fort  Branch", 
just  southeast  of  Pearisburg,  where  Judge  Martin  B.  Williams  now 
lives.  During  this  visit  I  went  to  the  "Salt  Pond,"  as  it  was  then 
called,  with  a  party  of  young  people,  among  whom  were  two  grand- 
sons and  two  granddaughters  of  Mr.  Chapman.  Even  at  that  early 
age  I  was  intensely  interested  in  the  local  history  of  Southwest 
Virginia,  and  an  ardent  lover  of  its  great  physical  beauty.  The 
splendid  lake  of  fresh  water  on  the  summit  of  the  lofty  mountain 
made  a  deep  impression  upon  my  young  mind  and  heart.  Together 
with  the  Chapman  boys,  I  rowed  out  on  the  lake  in  a  small  boat ;  and 
we  could  see  large  forest  trees  still  standing  erect  in  the  lake, 
beneath  the  crystal  water.  After  returning  from  the  expedition  to 
the  "Salt  Pond"  I  made  a  visit  of  several  days  at  Mount  Pleasant, 
the  home  of  Mr.  Chapman,  near  the  mouth  of  Walker's  Creek.  The 
old  gentleman  was  very  fond  of  playing  checkers,  and  was  the  best 
player  I  ever  tackled.  While  we  were  playing  checkers  in  his 
room  I  mentioned  the  "Salt  Pond"  and  my  recent  visit  to  it;  and 
he  said  the  trees  I  had  seen  in  the  lake  were  there,  alive  and  full 
of  foilage  in  the  summer  time,  when  he  salted  his  cattle  in  the  basin, 
and  before  the  water  began  to  accumulate  in  a  body. 

The  testimony  I  have  cited  is  not  tradition,  but  is  given  by  a 
man  who  was  born  and  reared  within  a  dozen  miles  of  "Salt  Pond," 
and  had  actual  personal  knowledge  of  the  origin  of  the  lake.  It 
proves  beyond  a  doubt  that  Gist  could  not  have  seen  the  "Salt 
Pond,"  as  it  was  not  in  existence  when  he  made  his  exploring  trip 
in  1750  for  the  Ohio  Company.  Moi-eover  his  description  of  the 
physical  surroundings  of  the  lake  do  not  correspond  with  those  of 
the  "Salt  Pond."  The  "gravelly  shore  about  ten  yards  wide,"  and 
"a.  fine  meadow  with  six  fine  springs  in  it,"  are  physical  impossi- 
bilities at  the  location  of  "Salt  Pond,"  on  "Salt  Pond  Mountain." 
The  very  name  fixes  the  origin  of  the  lake.  It  was  never  called 
Mountain  Lake  until  after  the  Civil  War,  when  it  was  purchased 
by  General  Haupt,  of  Pennsylvania,  from  the  heirs  of  Henley  Chap- 
man. I  visited  the  "Salt  Pond"  again  in  August,  1871,  ten  years 
after  my  first  visit.  It  then  presented  the  same  appearance,  and, 
from  a  boat,  the  forest  trees  were  still  visible,  still  standing  erect 
in  the  transparent  water. 


When  Dr.  Thomas  Walker  made  his  second  exploring  visit  to 
that  portion  of  Southwest  Virginia  which  lies  west  of  New  River. 


184  History  of  Tazewell  Count}' 

a  cui-rent  of  immioration  had  already  started  in  this  direetion.  He 
found  settlers  all  along  the  Upper  Roanoke  Valley,  at  Draper's 
Meadows,  and  the  Dunkard  eolony  at  Dunkard's  Bottom  on  the 
west  side  of  New  River.  On  Reed  Creek,  near  Max  ^leadows.  he 
lodged  with  James  MeCall  and  bought  from  him  a  supply  of  bacon 
for  his  exploring  party.  In  the  Middle  Holston  Valley,  at  a  point 
somewhere  between  Clarion  and  Se\en  Mile  Ford,  he  found  Samuel 
Stalnaker  preparing  for  a  permanent  settlement,  and  the  Walker 
party  gave  a  day  to  helping  the  pioneer  "raise"  liis  house.  Stal- 
naker, it  seems,  was  then  the  most  advanced  settler  west  of  New 
River;  and  when  Dr.  \^'alker  and  his  companions  separated  from 
him,  Walker  wrote  in  his  joui'nal:     "We  left  the  Inhabitants." 

Dr.  John  Hale,  in  his  intensely  interesting  book,  the  "Trans- 
Allegliany  Pioneers,"  states  that  the  settlement  at  Draper's 
Meadows  was  made  in  1748.  It  is  evident  that  the  first  settlers 
at  that  place  came  in  the  wake  of  the  Patton- Walker  exploring 
expedition  of  that  year.  They  consisted,  so  far  as  is  known,  of 
Thomas  Ingles  and  his  three  sons,  William,  Matthew,  and  John; 
Mrs.  George  Draper  and  her  son,  John,  and  daughter,  Mary; 
Adam  Harmon,  Henry  Lenard,  and  James  Burke.  Their  homes 
were  built  upon  the  present  site  and  lands  of  the  Virginia  Poly- 
technic Institute,  at  Blacksburg.  the  land  they  occupied  being  pur- 
chased from  Colonel  Patton.  The  Ingles,  the  Harmons  and  James 
Burke  were  later  on  prominent  figures  in  the  settlement  of  the 
Clinch  Valley  and  Burke's  Garden.  In  the  spring  of  1749,  Adam 
Harmon  moved  from  Draper's  Meadows  to  the  New  River  Valley 
and  settled  at  the  place  now  known  as  Eggleston's  Springs.  Very 
soon  thereafter  Philip  Lybrook  moved  in  and  settled  on  New  River, 
near  the  mouth  of  Sinking  Creek,  about  three  miles  below  Harmon; 
and  a  little  later  on  the  Snidows,  Chapmans  and  others  came  from 
the  Shenandoah  Valley  and  settled  near  Lybrook.  There  were 
other  settlements  made  about  the  same  time  at  several  points  in  the 
present  counties  of  Pulaski,  Wythe  and  Smyth;  but  no  permanent 
settlements  were  made  in  the  present  Tazewell  County  until  nearly 
twenty  years  after  Colonel  Patton's  first  visit  to  Burke's  Garden,  in 
1748,  and  Dr.  Walker's  visit  to  the  coal  bearing  regions  about  Poca- 
hontas, in  1750. 

Colonel  Thomas  L.  Preston,  in  his  Reminiscences  of  an  Octo- 
genarian, says,  that  in  1749  Colonel  Patton  and  William  Ingles 
went  to  Burke's  Garden  and  located  and  surveyed  land  there.  This 
statement,  I  believe,  is  incorrect.     The  records  in  the  Land  Office 


and  Southwest  Virginia  185 

of  Virginia  siiow  llial  Colonel  Patton  and  William  Ingles  surveyed 
lands  in  Burke's  Garden  for  Ingles,  acting  under  the  800,000  acre 
grant  to  the  Loyal  Company,  in  1753.  In  the  same  year  they  sur- 
vej'ed  tracts  for  William  Ingles  on  the  headwaters  of  Clinch  River 
and  on  Bluestone  Creek  in  Abb's  Valley.  The  patent  for  the  Abb's 
Valley  tract  was  issued  to  William  Ingles  on  the  5th  of  July,  1774, 
and  was  for  1,000  acres,  situated  in  Abb's  Valley  on  the  waters  of 
Bluestone  Creek,  a  branch  of  New  River.  The  patents  for  the 
boundaries  in  Burke's  Garden  and  on  the  branches  of  Clinch  River 
were  not  issued  until  November  1783;  and  were  then  issued  to  Wil- 
liam Christian  and  Daniel  Trigg,  as  Executors  of  William  Ingles, 
deceased.  Ingles  had  not  completed  his  titles  to  these  tracts  pre- 
vious to  his  death,  owing  to  causes  that  will  hereafter  be  mentioned. 
His  executors  brought  a  suit  in  the  Uist^ct  Court  of  Montgomery 
County  to  perfect  the  title  of  their  decedent  to  various  tracts  of 
land.  The  District  Court  entered  a  decree  in  favor  of  the  executors, 
and  the  case  was  appealed  by  the  opposing  litigant  to  the  Court 
of  Appeals  of  Virginia.  On  the  2nd  day  of  May,  1783,  the  Court 
of  AjDpeals  entered  a  decree  confirming  the  decree  of  the  District 
Court,  and  ordered  that  patents  be  issued  to  William  Christian  and 
Daniel  Trigg,  Executors  of  William  Ingles,  for  two  tracts  of  land, 
one  of  3'i5  acres  and  one  of  200  acres,  situated  in  Burke's  Garden, 
as  per  surveys  made  on  April  18th,  1753,  under  order  of  Council, 
whicli  gave  authority  to  the  Loyal  Company  to  take  up  and  survey 
800,000  acres  of  land  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  And 
shortly  afterward  patents  were  issued  to  the  said  executors  of  Wil- 
liam Ingles  for  five  tracts  of  140  acres,  70  acres,  61  acres,  210 
acres,  and  131  acres,  respectively,  all  situated  on  the  headwaters  of 
Clinch  River. 


186  History  of  Tazewell  County 


CHAPTER  III 

FRENCH  AND  INDIAN  WAR 

In  1754  what  is  known  in  history  as  The  French  and  Indian 
War  was  begun,  and  it  was  not  conchided  until  the  year  1763.  It 
was  the  beginning  of  the  final  struggle  between  France  and  England 
for  supreme  control  of  the  North  American  Continent.  The  war 
was  occasioned  by  three  distinct  causes,  and  the  first  of  these  was 
the  conflicting  claims  of  these  two  nations  for  a  large  part  of  the 
territory  now  embraced  in  the  United  States.  England  claimed  by 
right  of  discovery  nearly  all  the  territory  south  of  Canada,  and 
extending  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  basing  her  claim 
upon  the  discoveries  made  by  Sebastian  Cabot.  France,  however, 
asserted  superior  title  to  the  territory  because  she  had  been  the 
first  to  establish  colonies  on  the  St.  Lawrence  River  and  its  tribu- 
taries. During  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  France 
had  pushed  her  explorations  westward  along  the  shores  of  the  Great 
Lakes  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Wabash,  the  Illinois,  the  Wisconsin, 
and  St.  Croix  rivers ;  and  southward  through  the  Valley  of  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  These  explorations  were  begun 
by  zealous  Jesuit  missionaries,  for  the  dual  purpose  of  converting 
the  natives  to  Catholicism  and  to  secure  the  vast  territory  as  a 
possession  of  France.  Charles  Raymbault  was  the  pioneer  among 
these  Jesuit  explorers.  He  made  his  way  over  the  waters  of  Lake 
Huron,  and  passed  through  the  Straits  and  explored  Lake  Superior 
in  1641.  For  the  succeeding  thirty  years  the  Jesuits  prosecuted 
their  explorations  and  missionary  enterprises  with  unabated  ardor. 
In  1682  Robert  de  La  Salle  descended  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico;  and  in  1684,  he  brought  a  colony  from  France  to  Mata- 
gorda Bay  and  established  it  in  Texas;  and  attached  that  territory 
to  the  province  of  Louisiana.  By  the  year  1688  France  had  planted 
colonies,  built  forts  and  placed  garrisons  in  them  at  Frontenac,  at 
Niagara,  at  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw,  and  on  the  Illinois  River. 
And  by  the  year  1750  the  French  had  made  permanent  settlements 
at  Detroit,  at  the  mouth  of  St.  Joseph,  at  Green  Bay,  at  Vincennes, 
at  Kaskaskia,  at  Fort  Rosalie,  where  Natchez  is  located ;  and  at  the 
head  of  the  Bay  of  Biloxi  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  English 
Government  had  not  pushed  its  frontiers  beyond  the  Alleghany 
Mountains,  though  Governor  Spottswood.  of  Virginia,  in  1716  had 


and  Southwest  Virginia  187 

recommended  that  the  Virginia  settlements  be  advanced  to  the 
lakes  and  westward  as  far  as  possible,  to  prevent  the  French  from 
joining  the  "Dominion  of  Canada  to  their  new  colony  of  Louisiana." 
All  that  was  necessary  for  France  to  do  to  effect  the  union  of  her 
Dominion  of  Canada  with  her  Province  of  Louisiana  was  to  occupy 
the  Ohio  Valley.  This  she  was  seeking  to  accomplish,  and,  in  fact, 
was  doing  when  the  French  and  Indian  War  was  precipitated  in 
1754.  1 

The  second  cause  for  this  war  was  the  long  nourished  hatred 
between  France  and  England  as  nations.  This  bitter  animosity 
was  the  outgrowth  of  racial  antipathies  and  religious  prejudices. 
The  French  people  were  of  the  Gallic  race,  while  the  people  of 
England  were  of  mingled  Teutonic  and  Celtic  blood.  France  had 
been  for  many  years  the  leading  Catholic  country  of  Europe,  and 
England  was  the  first  among  the  Protestant  nations.  When  to 
these  racial  antipathies  and  religious  prejudices  was  added  intense 
commercial  jealousies  between  the  American  colonies  of  the  two 
nations,  war  became  inevitable.  And  when  the  French  began  to 
build  forts  on  the  disputed  territory,  and  souglit  to  monopolize  the 
fur  trade  of  the  Indians,  Great  Britain  realized  that  she  would 
have  to  repel  the  encroachments  of  her  enemy  or  be  forced  to  con- 
fine her  territorial  possessions  to  the  country  east  of  the  AUeghanies. 
Governor  Spottswood  had  given  warning  in  1716  that  these  condi- 
tions would  arise,  unless  Gi'eat  Britain  built  forts  and  established 
settlements  west  of  the  AUeghanies,  and  even  on  the  shores  of  the 
Great  Lakes. 

The  third  cause  of  the  war  was  more  potent  and  immediate 
than  either  of  the  other  two.  It  was  the  jealousy  that  existed 
between  the  French  traders  of  Canada  and  the  traders  from  Vir- 
ginia and  Pennsylvania,  who  were  competing  for  the  fur  trade  with 
the  Indians  on  the  Ohio  River  and  its  tributaries.  As  has  been 
repeatedly  stated,  Virginia  made  claim  under  the  charters  given  bj' 
James  I.  to  all  the  territory  embraced  in  the  present  states  of  West 
Virginia,  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  the  portions  of 
Michigan  and  Wisconsin  that  lie  east  of  the  Mississippi  River.  Her 
claim  was  vindicated  by  the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1763.  The  French 
traders  continued  to  invade  the  territory  of  Virginia  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  "Ohio  Company"  was  organized  in  1750  for  the  pur- 
pose of  taking  possession  of  a  i^^rt  of  the  disputed  territory,  and 
thereby  stop  the  encroachments  of  France.  This  company  was  com- 
posed of  Virginians,  among  whom  were  Governor  Dinwiddle,  Law- 


188  History  of  Tazewell  County 

rence  and  Augustus  Washington^  and  Thomas  Lee,  the  latter  then 
heing  president  of  the  Virginia  Couneil.  The  compan}'  obtained 
a  grant  for  500,000  acres  of  land  to  be  located  between  the  Kanawha 
and  Monongaiiela  Rivers,  or  on  the  northern  branch  of  the  Ohio 
River.  One  of  the  provisions  of  the  grant  was  that  the  lands  should 
be  rent  free  for  ten  jears,  but  requiring  the  company  to  settle  one 
hunilred  families  thereon  in  seven  vears. 


In  October,  I75'.i,  Governor  Dinwiddie  of  Virginia,  sent  George 
Washington,  then  a  young  surveyor,  as  a  commissioner  or  messenger 
with  a  ])rotest  to  General  St.  Pierre,  who  was  commander  of  the 
French  forces  in  the  West  and  was  stationed  at  Erie.  This  action, 
it  is  likely,  was  largely  procured  by  the  "Ohio  Company,"  of  which 
Dinwiddie  and  the  two  Wasliingtons  were  conspicuous  members. 
The  official  communication  which  George  Washington  bore  to  St. 
Pierre  warned  the  French  authorities  against  further  intrusions 
upon  the  territory'  of  Virginia.  This  mission  of  the  young  com- 
missioner was  a  serious  one,  and  the  journey  was  attended  with 
much  danger  and  severe  hardships.  Washington's  party  consisted 
of  himself  and  four  armed  companions  and  an  interpreter;  and 
Christopher  Gist,  agent  and  explorer  of  the  Ohio  Company,  acted 
as  guide.  They  traveled  up  the  Potomac  and  its  tributaries,  crossed 
the  mountains  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  followed 
those  streams  down  to  the  site  of  Pittsburgh.  Then  they  proceeded 
to  Logstown  and  held  a  council  with  the  Indians,  who  renewed  their 
pledges  of  friendship  to  the  English  colonists  and  fidelity  to  the 
British  Government.  Fi'om  Logstown  the  party  went  to  the  French 
fort  at  Venango,  and  the  officers  stationed  at  that  post  made  no 
concealment  of  the  intention  of  France  to  unite  the  Dominion  of 
Canada  with  the  Province  of  Louisiana  by  taking  possession  of  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi  vallej^s.  From  Venango,  Washington  traveled 
through  the  forest  to  Fort  le  B(xnif,  whicli  was  situated  on  French 
Creek,  fifty  miles  above  its  junction  with  the  Alleghany  River. 
There  he  found  St.  Pierre  engaged  in  strengthening  the  fortifica- 
tions. He  was  received  courteously  by  the  French  general,  but 
the  latter  declined  to  enter  into  any  discussion  with  Washingion 
touching  the  rival  claims  of  the  French  and  English.  St.  Pierre 
informed  Washington  that  he  was  acting  under  instructions  from  the 
governor  of  New  France  and  would  obey  his  orders  to  the  letter. 
A  polite  reply  to  Governor  Dinwiddle's  communication  was  given 
to  Washington,  in  which  St.  Pierre  stated  that  France  claimed  title 


and  Southwest  Virginia  189 

to  the  Ohio  country  by  virtue  of  discovery,  exphiration  and  occupa- 
tion;  and  was  resolved  to  maintain  its  claims  by  force  of  arms,  if 
necessary.  While  at  Fort  le  Banif,  Washington  discovered  that  the 
French  had  built  a  fleet  of  fifty  birch-bark  canoes  and  a  hundi'ed 
and  seventy  boats  from  pine  lumber  for  transporting  men  and  sup- 
plies down  the  river  to  the  junction  of  the  Alleghany  and  IMonon- 
gahela.  The  French  had  recog-nized  the  strategic  importance  of  the 
spot  where  Pittsburgh  is  now  located  and  had  determined  to  build 
a  fort  there. 

It  was  midwinter  when  Washington,  with  Christopher  Gist  as 
his  sole  companion,  started  on  his  return  journey  to  Williamsburg, 
bearing  the  answer  of  General  St.  Pierre  to  Governor  Dinwiddie. 
The  perils  and  sufferings  of  that  journey  are  familiar  to  all  inter- 
ested readers  of  Virginia  and  Colonial  history.  Garbed  in  an 
Indian  fur  robe,  with  rifle  on  his  shoulder  and  knapsack  on  his  back, 
the  young  patriot  tramped  and  struggled  through  the  wilderness, 
enduring  sufierings  from  cold  and  hunger  that  it  would  seem  impos- 
sible for  any  man  to  withstand;  but  W^ashington  arrived  at  Wil- 
liamsburg in  due  season  and  delivered  St.  Pierre's  defiant  note  to 
Governor  Dinwiddie.  This  was  the  first  public  service  rendered  by 
the  future  "Father  of  His  Country,"  and  from  that  time  until  the 
day  of  his  death  Washington  became  a  central  figure  in  the  affairs 
of  his  country,  and  he  still  remains  the  most  revered  of  American 
patriots. 

The  Ohio  Compan}',  which  had  earnestly  directed  the  attention 
of  the  Bi-itish  Government  to  the  French  invasion  of  the  Ohio 
regions,  in  the  winter  of  1753-51'  organized  a  company  of  thirty- 
three  men  and  placed  it  under  command  of  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Trent,  with  orders  to  proceed  as  quickly  as  possible  to  the  source 
of  the  Ohio  River  and  build  a  fort  there.  This  company  marched 
as  instructed,  and  in  March,  1754,  arrived  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Alleghany  and  INIonongahela,  and  built  a  rude  stockade  fort  on  the 
present  site  of  Pittsburgh.  As  soon  as  the  ice  gorges  in  the  river 
were  broken  up  St,  Pierre  left  Venango  with  his  fleet  of  canoes  and 
boats,  and  sw^ept  down  the  river  and  forced  Trent  and  his  party  to 
withdraw  from  the  countr3\  The  French  cleared  away  the  forest 
and  began  to  build  a.  fort,  which  later  became  famous  in  history  ag 
Fort  Du  Quesne. 

In  the  meantime  George  Washing-ton  had  been  given  a  com- 
mission as  lieutenant  colonel,  with  authority  to  raise  a  regiment  of 
volunteers  to  go  to  the  relief  of  Trent  and  his  company.     He  was 


190  History  of  Tazewell  County 

stationed  at  Alexandria,  but  before  he  could  get  his  regiment 
organized  Trent  had  been  forced  to  surrender  on  the  17th  of  April. 
Early  in  May,  1754,  Washington  set  out  from  Alexandria,  with 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  to  recapture  the  place  surrendered 
by  Trent.  He  was  instructed  to  march  to  the  source  of  the  Ohio, 
to  construct  a  fort,  and  to  drive  out  all  persons  who  opposed  the 
settlement  of  Englishmen  in  that  region. 

On  the  26th  of  May  the  small  force  of  Virginians  arrived  at  the 
Great  Meadows,  about  thirty  miles  south  of  Pittsburgh.  Wash- 
ington built  there  a  stockade,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Fort 
Necessity.  His  Indian  scouts  soon  discovered  that  a  company  of 
the  French  was  secretly  scouting  in  the  vicinity,  and  Washington 
determined  to  surprise  and  capture  the  party.  Two  of  the  Indians 
discovered  the  French  concealed  in  a  rocky  ravine.  The  Virginians, 
with  Washington  leading  them,  gun  in  hand,  advanced  cautiously 
upon  the  enemy;  but  the  French  became  aware  of  their  approach 
and  siezed  their  guns,  whereupon  Washington  gave  the  command, 
"Fire !"  This  was  the  first  volley  that  was  fired  in  the  French  and 
Indian  War,  which  did  not  terminate  for  nine  years.  Jumonville, 
was  in  command  of  the  French  company,  and  ten  of  his  men  were 
killed  and  twenty  were  made  prisoners. 

Learning  that  General  De  Villiers  was  marching  from  Fort  Du 
Quesne  with  a  large  force  to  make  an  attack  upon  him,  Washington 
fell  back  to  Fort  Necessity.  On  the  3rd  of  July,  De  Villiers 
invested  and  made  an  attack  upon  the  fort.  The  French  army 
consisted  of  six  hundred  men  besides  a  large  force  of  Indian  allies ; 
but  Washington  with  his  gallant  little  band  of  Virginians  success- 
fully resisted  for  nine  hours  the  attacking  party,  though  thirty  of 
his  men  were  killed  and  a  number  wounded.  De  Villiers  on  account 
of  a  shortage  of  ammunition  praposed  a  parley;  and  Washington, 
realizing  that  with  his  small  force  he  could  not  hold  out  much 
longer,  accepted  the  very  honorable  terms  of  surrender  which  were 
proposed  by  the  French  commander.  On  the  4'th  of  July,  the  gar- 
rison with  all  their  arms,  except  artillery,  and  baggage  left  the  fort 
and  withdrew  from  the  country.  This  left  the  entire  Ohio  Valley 
in  possession  of  France,  and  caused  great  alarm  among  all  the 
Northern  colonies  as  well  as  in  Virginia. 

About  this  time  a  congress,  to  which  all  the  American  colonies 
had  been  requested  to  send  delegates,  had  assembled  at  Albany, 
New  York,  for  the  purpose  of  urging  concerted  action  against  the 
French  and  to  secure  more  cordial  support  from  th^  Indian  tribes 


and  Southwest  Virginia  191 

of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  and,  if  possible,  of  the  tribes  along 
the  Ohio.  Benjamin  Franklin  was  the  leading  and  guiding  spirit 
of  this  convention.  Steps  were  taken  to  unite  all  the  English 
colonies  into  a  common  government,  it  being  then  apparent  that 
their  future  welfare  required  the  formation  of  a  federated  form  of 
government.  Franklin  drafted  a  constitution,  which,  after  a  mani- 
festation of  considerable  opposition  thereto,  was  adopted  by  the 
commissioners  in  attendance.  Copies  of  the  proposed  constitution 
were  transmitted  to  each  of  the  colonies  for  ratification  or  rej  ection ; 
but  it  was  received  with  great  disfavor  nearly  everywhere.  The 
copy  sent  to  England  for  approval  was  contemptuously  rejected, 
the  British  Board  of  Trade  declaring  that  the  Americans  were  try- 
ing to  establish  an  independent  government  of  their  own.  Possibly 
the  Board  of  Trade  was  not  far  wrong  in  that  conclusion,  as  was 
shown  by  the  Revolution  which  came  on  about  two  decades  later. 

In  the  meantime  the  French  were  actively  occupied  in  strength- 
ening their  fortifications  at  Crown  Point,  at  Niagara,  and  at  all 
their  posts  along  the  lakes  and  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  The  British 
Government  was  at  last  awakened  to  the  fact  that  something  had 
to  be  done  to  stop  the  aggressions  of  France,  or  submit  to  the  loss 
of  all  English  territory  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  Though  there  had 
been  no  declaration  of  war,  England  determined  to  send  a  large 
army  to  America  to  protect  her  colonies  against  the  continued 
invasions  of  the  French  and  Indians.  General  Edward  Braddock 
was  sent  over  with  six  thousand  regulars,  and  the  colonies  were 
requested  to  furnish  as  many  volimteers  as  they  could  to  unite  with 
the  regular  troops  for  the  protection  of  the  frontiers.  The  ministers 
of  France  and  Great  Britain  continued  negotiations  for  a  peaceful 
solution  of  the  controversy;  but  Louis  XV.,  King  of  France,  sent 
three  thousand  splendidly  equipped  soldiers  to  Canada  for  rein- 
forcing the  army  he  already  had  in  that  province,  stationed  at 
various  forts  on  the  frontier. 

On  the  14)th  of  April,  1755,  General  Braddock  held  a  confer- 
ence at  Alexandria,  Virginia,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  and  out- 
lining a  concerted  campaign  for  checking  the  advances  of  the  French, 
and  the  recovery  of  the  territoi'y  already  invaded  and  possessed  by 
the  enemy;  and  it  was  agreed  that  there  should  be  no  invasion  of 
Canada,  but  that  the  French  should  be  driven  out  of  the  Ohio  Val- 
ley and  the  other  territory  claimed  by  England.  And  it  was  also 
plaimed  that  Lawrence,  lieutenant  governor  of  Nova  Scotia,  should 


192  History  of  Tazewell  County 

complete  the  conquest  of  that  province  according  to  the  boundaries 
as  claimed  by  Great  Britain. 

Braddock  started  out  from  Alexandria  with  two  thousand  Brit- 
ish veterans  to  recapture  fort  Du  Quesne.  At  the  mouth  of  Wills' 
Creek,  a  tributary  of  tlie  Potomac,  and  where  Fort  Cumberland  was 
built,  he  was  joined  by  two  companies  of  volunteers  from  New  York 
and  several  companies  from  Virginia.  George  Washington  also 
joined  the  army  at  Fort  Cumberland,  and  Braddock  made  the  young 
Virginian  his  aid-de-camp.  The  British  general's  commission  con- 
tained an  order  which  directed  that  no  provincial  officer  should  be 
given  any  rank  while  serving  with  the  British  army.  This  prescrip- 
tion was  so  offensive  to  the  colonial  authoi'ities  that  they  declined 
or  failed  to  send  the  large  quotas  of  troops  they  could  have  furnished 
to  assist  the  English  forces.  George  Washington  at  first  declined 
to  go  with  Braddock  in  such  an  inferior  capacity,  but  from  purely 
patriotic  motives  joined  him  at  Fort  Cumberland.  The  stubborn 
and  foolhardy'  British  commander  refused  to  accept  any  advice 
from  Washing-ton,  or  from  any  of  the  colonial  officers,  as  to  how 
the  campaign  should  be  conducted  against  the  French  and  Indians. 
He  persisted  in  his  purpose  to  fight  the  Indians  according  to  the 
rules  of  military  art  as  it  was  practiced  in  Europe,  and  his  stub- 
bornness was  followed  by  terrible  disaster. 

On  the  9th  day  of  June,  1755,  Braddock's  army  was  led  into 
an  ambuscade,  and  was  nearly  destroyed  by  the  combined  forces  of 
the  Indians  and  French.  There  were  six  hundred  and  thirty 
Indians,  most  of  them  Shawnee  warriors,  and  two  hundred  and 
thirty  French  soldiers  in  the  engagement.  British  tactics  proved 
worse  than  valueless  when  matched  against  the  skill  and  daring  of 
the  Shawnee  warriors  in  a  battle  fought  in  the  wilderness.  Con- 
fusion first  came  to  the  trained  English  veterans,  and  this  was  fol- 
lowed by  panic,  which  turned  the  battle  field  into  a  bloody  shambles 
for  the  British  soldiers.  Braddock  had  five  horses  shot  under  him 
before  he  received  a  fatal  wound.  Of  the  eighty-two  English  offi- 
cers, twenty-six  were  killed  and  thirty-seven  were  wounded.  Wash- 
ington was  tlie  only  mounted  officer  who  escaped  injury;  and  he 
had  two  horses  killed  inider  him,  and  his  coat  was  pierced  by  four 
bullets.  When  Braddock  sank  to  the  ground  from  a  bullet  wound 
in  his  right  side,  Washington  rushed  to  his  assistance.  Then  the 
haughty  Briton  turned  to  the  Virginian  and  inquired:  "What  shall 
we  do  now  Colonel.''"  Washington  promptly  replied:  "Retreat 
sir — retreat  by  all  means."     An  order  for  retreat  was  then  given; 


and  Southwest  Virginia  193 

and  though  but  about  thirty  of  the  Virginians  had  escaped  slaughter, 
under  the  command  of  our  Washington,  they  effectively  covered  the 
retreat  of  the  crushed  and  ruined  army.  The  French  and  Indians 
had  three  officers  and  thirty  men  killed  and  about  the  jsame  number 
wounded.  Of  the  English  army,  seven  hundred  and  fourteen  men 
of  the  ranks  were  killed  and  wounded.  A  hasty  retreat  was  made 
by  the  remnant  of  Braddock's  army  to  Fort  Cumberland,  and  a  few 
days  later  that  place  was  abandoned  and  the  army  marched  to 
Philadelphia. 

At  the  convention  held  by  the  governors  of  the  colonies  at  Alex- 
andria on  the  14th  of  April,  1755,  it  had  been  ordered  that  Governor 
Lawrence  should  make  complete  conquest  of  Nova  Scotia,  so  as  to 
settle  the  boundaries  of  that  province,  which  had  been  ceded  by 
France  to  England  by  the  treaty  of  Utretch,  made  April  11th,  1713. 
There  had  been  sharp  contentions  between  France  and  England  over 
the  boundaries  of  the  ceded  province. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  made  by  Frenchmen  on  the  North 
American  Continent  was  established  on  the  southwest  coast  of 
Nova  Scotia,  at  a  harbor  which  had  been  called  Port  Royal  by  the 
French  discoverers.  And  the  whole  country  thereabout,  including 
the  surrounding  islands,  was  called  Acadia  by  the  founders  of  the 
settlement.  After  the  cession  of  the  province  to  England,  the  name 
of  Port  Royal  was  changed  to  Annapolis,  and  the  name  Acadia  was 
changed  to  Nova  Scotia.  At  the  time  the  province  was  ceded  to 
Great  Britian  the  population  was  estimated  at  about  three  thousand, 
and  at  the  outbreak  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  their  numbers 
had  increased  to  about  sixteen  thousand.  The  French  inhabitants 
outnumbered  the  English  about  three  to  one.  Lawrence,  the  acting 
British  governor,  pretended  that  there  was  danger  of  an  insurrec- 
tion, as  a  very  large  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  province 
were  French  and  were  dissatisfied  with  British  rule.  Bancroft, 
the  great  American  historian,  says  of  these  people: 

"Happy  in  their  neutrality,  the  Acadians  formed,  as  it  were, 
one  great  family.  Their  morals  were  of  unaffected  purity.  Love 
was  sanctified  and  calmned  by  the  universal  custom  of  early  mar- 
riages. The  neighbors  of  the  community  would  assist  the  new 
couple  to  raise  their  cottage  on  fertile  land,  which  the  wilderness 
freely  offered." 

These  excellent  people  were  placed  at  the  mercy  of  their  military 
masters,  and  were  denied  protection  in  the  civil  tribunals.     Their 
property  was  taken  without  their  consent  for  the  public  service  and 
T.H.— 13 


194  History  of  Tazewell  County 

"they  were  not  to  be  bargained  with  for  the  payment."  They  were 
required  to  furnish  firewood  for  their  oppressors,  with  an  order 
from  the  governor:  "If  they  do  not  do  it  in  proper  time,  the 
soldiers  shall  absolutely  take  their  houses  for  fuel."  Their  fire- 
arms and  boats  were  taken  from  them,  leaving  them  without  means 
to  escape  from  their  oppressors.  Orders  were  given  the  English 
officers  to  punish  Acadians  at  discretion,  if  they  behaved  amiss; 
and  if  the  troops  were  insulted  they  had  authority  to  assault  the 
nearest  person,  whether  he  be  the  guilt}^  one  or  not,  taking  "an  eye 
for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth." 

The  British  officers  and  men  were  taught  to  believe  that  the 
colonies  existed  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  be  exploited  for  the 
benefit  of  the  mother  country;  and  they  despised  the  Acadians, 
even  though  they  were  an  honest,  industrious  and  virtuous  people. 
So,  Lawrence  was  given  full  authority  to  reduce  the  French  popula- 
tion of  Nova  Scotia  to  complete  submission;  and  to  assist  him  in 
the  cruel  undertaking  a  British  fleet  was  sent  from  Boston. 

On  the  20th  of  May,  1755,  the  fleet,  with  three  thousand  troops 
aboard,  under  the  command  of  General  Monkton,  sailed  from 
Boston  for  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  The  2nd  of  June  the  British  army 
was  landed  on  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  in  a  campaign  of  less 
than  a  month,  with  a  loss  of  twenty  men,  the  British  had  brought 
into  subjection  the  whole  country  east  of  the  St.  Croix  River.  The 
French  inhabitants  and  the  garrisons  at  the  two  fortified  posts 
that  France  still  held  in  the  isthmus  which  divides  Nova  Scotia 
from  New  Brunswick,  were  taken  entirely  by  surprise,  as  the  hos- 
tile British  movement  was  made  before  any  declaration  of  war. 
While  this  atrocious  campaign  in  Nova  Scotia  was  in  progress, 
Braddock  was  marching  to  his  doom  on  the  Monongahela. 

Acadia,  peaceful  and  helpless,  had  been  easily  conquered;  but 
the  French  inhabitants  outnumbered  the  English  three  to  one.  To 
remove  any  danger  from  an  insurrection.  Governor  Lawrence  and 
Admiral  Boscawen,  upon  the  advice  of  the  chief  justice  of  the 
province,  determined  to  deport  the  French  inhabitants.  As  a  pre- 
liminary to  the  execution  of  this  great  crime,  a  demand  was  made 
that  the  people  should  take  an  oath  of  allegiance  which  was  so 
framed  that  the  French,  as  faithful  Catholics,  could  not  subscribe 
to  it.  Upon  their  refusal  to  take  the  oath  of  renunciation,  the  Eng- 
lish plotters  accused  the  French  of  treason  and  made  then  surrender 
all  their  firearms  and  boats.  The  heavy-hearted  people  were  driven 
from   their   homes   in  the   villages   and   hamlets   and   their   houses 


and  Southwest  Virginia  195 

destroyed  by  fire.  They  were  forced  to  assemble  in  the  larger 
towns  and  when  a  sufficient  number  were  collected,  they  were  driven 
on  shipboard  for  deportation.  Ridpath,  writing  about  this  horrible 
transaction,  says: 

"The  wails  of  the  thousands  of  bleeding  hearts  were  wafted  to 
heaven  with  the  smoke  of  burning  homes.  At  the  village  of  Grand 
Pre  four  hundred  and  eighteen  unarmed  men  were  called  together 
and  shut  up  in  a  church.  Then  came  the  wives  and  children,  the 
old  men  and  the  mothers,  the  sick  and  the  infirm,  to  share  the  com- 
mon fate.  The  whole  company  numbered  more  than  nineteen  hun- 
dred souls.  The  poor  creatures  were  driven  to  the  shore,  forced 
into  the  boats  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and  carried  to  the  vessels 
"  in  the  bay.  As  the  moaning  fugitives  cast  a  last  look  at  their 
pleasant  town,  a  column  of  black  smoke  floating  seaward  told  the 
story  of  desolation.  More  than  three  thousand  of  the  helpless 
Acadians  were  carried  away  by  the  British  squadron  and  scattered, 
helpless,  half-starved  and  dying  among  the  English  colonies.  The 
history  of  civilized  nations  furnishes  no  parallel  to  this  wanton  and 
wicked  destruction  of  an  inoffensive  colony." 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1755  the  British  armies  had  nothing  to 
their  credit  in  the  way  of  success,  except  the  disgraceful  conquest 
of  Acadia,  and  a  dearly  bought  victory  won  by  General  Johnson 
over  General  Dieskau  near  Fort  Edward,  New  York.  The  years 
1756-57  proved  two  years  of  great  disaster  to  the  British.  In  July, 
1756,  General  Montcalm  captured  the  two  forts  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Oswego  River;  and  the  French  greatly  strengthened  their  forts 
at  Crown  Point  and  Ticonderoga.  The  only  successes  won  by  the 
English  were  scored  by  the  colonial  volunteers,  called  provincials. 
During  the  summer  the  Delawares  violated  their  treaty  with  the 
colonies,  and  made  vicious  attacks  upon  the  settlers  in  Western 
Pennsylvania.  Colonel  John  Armstrong,  with  three  hundred  Penn- 
sylvania volunteers,  crossed  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  by  a 
twenty  days  march  got  to  the  Indian  town  called  Kittanning,  which 
was  situated  forty-five  miles  northeast  of  Pittsburg.  Colonel  Arm- 
strong was  one  of  the  Scotch-Irish  immigrants  who  had  come  from 
Ulster,  and  his  three  hundred  men  were  mostly  of  the  same  blood. 
The  Pennsylvanians  attacked  the  village  at  daybreak.  Captain 
Jacobs,  the  Delaware  chief,  raised  the  war-whoop  and  cried:  "The 
white  men  are  come,  we  shall  have  scalps  enough."  Jacobs  was 
one  of  the  Indians  who  laid  the  ambuscade  for  Braddock's  army. 


196  History  of  Tazewell  County 

and  a  hearty  participant  in  the  scalping  carnival  that  followed 
Braddock's  defeat.  On  this  occasion  there  was  quite  a  different 
scene.  Jacobs  and  his  entire  family  and  most  of  his  warriors  were 
killed  and  scalped  by  the  white  men.  The  town  was  burned,  but 
the  Americans  lost  sixteen  of  their  good  men  killed,  and  a  number 
were  wounded.  Among  the  wounded  were  Colonel  Armstrong  and 
Captain  Hugh  Mercer.  The  Pennsylvania  county  which  includes 
the  battle  field  is  named  Armstrong;  and  the  West  Virginia  county 
that  adjoins  Tazewell  bears  the  name  of  Mercer. 

After  the  defeat  of  Braddock,  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia 
made  an  appropriation  of  money  for  Colonel  George  Washington 
and  the  other  officers  and  the  privates  of  the  Virginia  volunteers, 
to  reward  them  "for  their  gallant  behavior  and  losses  in  the  late 
disastrous  battle."  Colonel  Washington  was  also  given  command 
of  all  the  forces  raised  or  to  be  enlisted  in  Virginia.  He  selected 
for  his  field  officers,  next  in  rank  to  himself.  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Adam  Stephens  and  Major  Andrew  Lewis.  The  latter  was  from 
Augusta  County,  was  one  of  the  Trans-AUeghany  pioneers,  and 
became  eminent  as  an  Indian  fighter  and  officer  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  Washington  established  his  headquarters  at  Winchester,  as 
the  Indians  and  their  French  allies  were  making  hostile  incur- 
sions into  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  and  were  spreading  consternation 
among  the  settlers,  many  of  whom  were  fleeing  with  their  families 
for  safety  across  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountain. 

Washington  made  a  tour  of  the  outposts,  from  Fort  Cumberland 
to  Fort  Dinwiddie,  on  Jackson's  River;  and  was  satisfied  that  the 
means  he  possessed  were  not  sufficient  to  protect  the  Valley  and 
the  outlying  settlements  against  the  Indians.  He  then  determined 
to  go  to  Williamsburg  and  urge  that  more  adequate  means  be  fur- 
nished; but  he  was  recalled  after  he  reached  Fredericksburg  by  an 
announcement  that  the  Indians  had  renewed  their  attacks  upon 
the  settlements.  Hurrying  back  to  Winchester  he  gathered  his 
small  forces  and  drove  the  savages  back  from  the  border.  In  the 
spring  of  1756  he  went  to  Williamsburg  and  induced  the  General 
Assembly,  then  in  session,  to  increase  his  force  to  fifteen  hundred 
men.  After  accomplishing  this,  he  returned  to  Winchester  and  found 
that  scouting  parties  of  Indians  were  massacreing  the  improtected 
inhabitants  on  the  border,  and  were  attacking  the  forts  and  killing 
some  of  his  best  soldiers.  Conditions  were  so  deplorable,  and  the 
number  of  troops  so  inadequate  for  the  protection  of  the  settlers, 
that  Colonel  Washington  wrote  a  letter  to  Governor  Dinwiddie  in 


and  Southwest  Virginia  197 

which  he  pictured  the  distressing  situation,  and  declaring  that: 
"The  supplicating  tears  of  the  women,  and  moving  petitions  of  the 
men,  melt  me  with  deadly  sorrow,  that  I  solemnly  declare,  if  I 
know  ray  own  inind,  I  could  offer  myself  a  willing  sacrifice  to  the 
butchering  enemy,  provided  that  would  contribute  to  the  people's 
ease."  The  summer  and  autumn  of  1757  were  spent  by  Washington 
in  repairing  the  old  forts  and  in  building  a  new  one  at  Winchester, 
which  was  named  Fort  Loudoun. 

The  year  1757  proved  equally  as  disastrous  for  the  English  as 
had  the  two  preceding  years.  At  the  close  of  the  year  it  looked  as 
if  the  British  would  be  driven  out  of  America,  or,  at  least,  be  forced 
to  confine  themselves  to  the  regions  they  had  so  long  occupied  east 
of  the  Alleghanies.  France  was  in  possession  of  twenty  times  as 
much  American  territory  as  England,  and  every  English  settler 
had  been  driven  from  the  Ohio  Valley.  But  a  great  change  in  the 
situation  came  in  1758.  William  Pitt,  the  first  Englishman  to  be 
called  the  "Great  Commoner,"  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  min- 
istry; and  the  disgraceful  mismanagement  of  English  affairs  in 
America  was  brought  to  an  end.  General  Ambercrombie  superseded 
the  incapable  Lord  Loudoun  as  commander-in-chief;  and  Admiral 
Boscawen  was  put  in  charge  of  a  splendid  fleet  of  twenty-two  ships 
of  the  line  and  fifteen  frigates.  Able  generals  and  a  corps  of  cap- 
able subordinate  officers  were  given  the  commander-in-chief.  Among 
these  were  Generals  Amherst,  Howe,  Forbes,  and  Wolfe,  and 
Colonel  Richard  Montgomery.  The  latter  was  the  favorite  officer 
in  the  brigade  of  the  gallant  General  James  Wolfe,  and  was  with 
him  when  he  captured  Quebec  from  the  French  on  the  13th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1759,  and  when  he  received  a  mortal  wound  on  the  Heights 
of  Abraham.  It  was  a  strange  decree  of  fate  which  placed  Colonel 
Montgomery  in  command  of  a  Colonial  army  with  which  he  sought 
to  capture  Quebec  from  the  British  on  December  31st,  1775;  and 
that  he  should  receive  a  mortal  wound,  while  leading  his  troops, 
not  far  from  where  Wolfe  was  killed  sixteen  years  previously. 

The  war  was  pressed  with  vigor  during  the  years  1758  and  1759. 
Louisburg  was  captured  by  General  Wolfe  on  the  28th  of  July, 
1758,  and  soon  thereafter  Cape  Breton  and  Prince  Edward  Island 
were  surrendered  to  Great  Britain.  General  Ambercrombie  made 
an  ineffectual  effort  to  take  Ticonderoga  on  the  6th  of  July.  On 
the  8th  the  English  army  made  another  assault,  a  bloody  battle 
ensued,  and  the  carnage  was  dreadful,  the  British  losing  in  killed 
and  wounded  nineteen  hundred  and  sixteen  men.     General  Mont- 


198  History  of  Tazewell  County 

calm  was  in  command  of  the  four  thousand  French,  and  it  was  due  to 
his  skillful  and  energetic  management  that  the  English  lost  the  bat- 
tle. A  short  time  after  the  defeat  at  Ticonderoga,  Colonel  Brad- 
street  captured  Frontenac  after  a  two  days  siege,  which  compen- 
sated for  the  failure  to  capture  Ticonderoga. 

Later  in  the  summer  General  Forbes  left  Philadelphia  with  an 
army  of  nine  thousand  men  and  moved  slowly  and  cautiously  in  the 
direction  of  Fort  Du  Quesne.  Washington  was  in  command  of  the 
provincials,  and  Colonel  Armstrong,  already  famous  from  his  victory 
over  the  Indians  at  Kittanning,  commanded  the  Pennsylvanians. 
On  the  24th  of  November,  Washington,  who  was  in  charge  of  the 
advance  troops,  arrived  within  ten  miles  of  Fort  Du  Quesne.  The 
French  garrison,  which  numbered  only  about  five  hundred  men, 
abandoned  and  destroyed  the  fort  and  made  their  retreat  in  their 
canoes  and  boats  down  the  river.  It  was  on  the  following  day, 
November  25th,  1758,  that  the  English  flag  was  raised  again  on 
the  noted  spot  and  the  name  Pittsburg  given  thereto  in  honor  of 
the  "Great  Commoner,"  who  had  restored  the  prestige  of  England 
in  America.  Thus  was  wrested  from  the  French  what  has  since 
been  known  as  "the  gateway  of  the  west." 

For  the  campaign  of  the  next  year.  General  Amherst  was  placed 
in  full  command  of  the  American  forces.  Parliament  voted  twelve 
million  pounds  for  its  conduct,  and  the  colonies  cheerfully  joined 
the  British  Government  to  raise  an  army  of  fifty  thousand  men. 

On  the  25th  of  July,  1759,  the  French  surrendered  Niagara  to 
Sir  William  Johnson,  and  communication  between  Canada  and 
Louisiana  was  completely  broken.  The  26th  day  of  July  the  French 
garrison  abandoned  Ticonderoga  and  retreated  to  Crown  Point;  and 
five  days  afterward  they  deserted  that  place.  General  Wolfe  gave 
the  final  blow  to  the  power  of  France  in  Canada  on  the  12th  of 
September,  when  he  successfully  attacked  Quebec,  though  he  lost 
his  life  in  that  supreme  effort.  Montcalm,  the  gallant  French  com- 
mandex-,  was  also  mortally  wounded  in  the  battle,  and  when  told 
that  he  could  live  but  a  few  hours,  said:  "So  much  the  better;  I 
shall  not  live  to  see  the  surrender  of  Quebec."  The  citadel  was 
surrendered  to  General  Townshend  on  the  17th  of  September,  1759. 

In  the  spring  of  1760  France  made  the  last  great  struggle  to 
regain  her  power  in  Canada.  A  few  miles  west  of  Quebec  the 
French  and  English  met  in  a  severe  battle  and  the  English  were 
forced  to  retire  into  the  city;  but  reinforcements  were  sent  to  the 
British  and  the  French  were  driven  back.    On  the  8th  of  September, 


and  Southwest  Virginia  199 

1760,  Montreal,  which  was  the  onlj^  strong  post  still  held  by  France 

in  the  St.  Lawrence  Valley,  was  surrendered  to  General  Amherst. 

At  the  time  of  the  surrender  of  Montreal  it  had  been  stipulated  that 

the  number  of  small  posts  held  by  the  French  in  the  vast  territory 

bordering   on   the    Great    Lakes    should   be   turned   over   to    Great 

Britain.     And  in  tlie   fall  of    1760,  General  Amlierst  sent  Major 

Robert    Rogers    with    two    hundred    provincial    rangers    to    receive 

these  outposts  from  the  several  French  commanders.     In  November, 

Major  Rogers   reached  Detroit,  the  fort  was  surrendered  to  him, 

and  he  raised  the  English  flag  over  the  fortress,  where  it  continued 

to  float  to  the  breeze  until  it  was  hauled  down  to  make  place  for 

our  own  great  emblem  of  freedom,  the  Stars  and  Stripes.     Then 

Fort   Miami  on  the   southern   shore   of   Lake   Michigan,   and   Fort 

Onatanon  on  the  Wabash  were  surrendered  to  Major  Rogers.     It 

was  his  purpose  to  travel  on  and  take  possession  of  the  forts   at 

Mackinaw,  Green  Bay  and  St.  Marie,  but  severe  storms  prevented 

him  from  doing  this ;  and  those  remote  forts  were  not  garrisoned 

with  Enelish  soldiers  until  the  summer  of  1761. 


The  fall  of  Montreal  and  the  subsequent  surrender  of  the  French 
forts  placed  Great  Britain  in  complete  possession  of  all  the  disputed 
territory  which  had  provoked  the  French  and  Indian  War.  While 
this  war  was  in  progress  the  French,  by  very  kind  and  considerate 
treatment,  had  won  the  friendship  and  confidence  of  their  Indian 
allies ;  and  the  hatred  of  the  red  men  for  the  English  had  been 
greatly  intensified.  The  Indians  still  believed  that  France  would 
reconquer  the  country  and  expel  the  detested  English ;  and,  so 
believing,  the  native  tribes  continued  to  make  attacks  upon  the 
frontier  settlements.  In  the  summer  of  1761  the  Senecas  and 
Wyandots  joined  in  a  conspiracy  to  capture  Detroit  and  massacre 
the  English  garrison ;  but  Colonel  Campbell,  commander  of  the  post, 
got  information  of  the  consjDiracy  and  thwarted  the  attack.  The 
following  summer  a  similar  plot  was  formed,  but  it  was  defeated 
by  the  alert  English  officers. 

In  the  spring  of  1763,  Pontiac,  who  was  chief  of  the  Ottowas, 
and  who  led  his  warriors  at  Braddock's  defeat,  conceived  a  plan  for 
uniting  all  the  tribes  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Mississippi 
River,  to  make  concerted  attacks  upon  all  the  forts  in  the  possession 
of  the  English,  and  overwhelm  their  garrisons.  This  noted  chief 
had  met  JNIajor  Robert  Rogers,  when  he  was  on  his  way  to  take 


200  History  of  Tazewell  County 

possession  of  Detroit  for  the  British,  at  the  place  where  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  is  now  located;  and  had  made  objection  to  further  invasion 
of  the  territory  by  the  English,  But  when  he  was  informed  that 
the  French  had  been  defeated  and  had  surrendered  all  their  forts 
in  Canada,  he  consented  to  the  surrender  of  Detroit,  and  for  a  time 
was  disposed  to  be  friendly  to  the  British.  Later  he  was  deceived 
by  rumors  that  France  was  preparing  to  make  a  reconquest  of  her 
American  possessions,  and  proceeded  to  carry  out  his  plans  for  a 
general  uprising  of  the  Indians  and  the  destruction  of  the  English 
forts  and  settlements. 

The  7th  of  May,  1761,  was  the  day  selected  for  the  general 
uprising  and  for  the  beginning  of  what  is  known  in  history  as 
Pontiac's  War.  Pontiac  was  to  make  an  attack  upon  Detroit, 
the  capture  of  that  place  being  considered  the  most  difficult  task  of 
the  Indians'  scheme.  An  Indian  girl,  who  was  deeply  infatuated 
with  an  English  officer  at  the  post,  the  day  before  the  uprising 
visited  the  fort  and  revealed  the  plot  to  Major  Gladwyn,  the  com- 
mandant. When  Pontiac's  warriors  the  following  day  attempted  by 
treachery  to  accomplish  their  design,  thej^  found  all  the  soldiers  and 
the  citizens  under  arms  and  fully  prepared  to  repel  any  onslaught. 
A  protracted  siege  followed,  but  finally  had  to  be  abandoned. 

At  other  points  the  Indians  were  more  successful  in  the  execution 
of  their  scheme.  On  the  16th  of  May,  a  band  of  the  Wyandots 
captured  Fort  Sandusky,  killed  all  the  garrison  and  burned  the  fort. 
A  few  days  later  Fort  St.  Joseph  experienced  a  similar  fate  at  the 
hands  of  a  number  of  the  Pottawotamie  tribe.  This  was  followed 
by  the  capture  of  Fort  Mackinaw  and  nearly  all  of  its  defenders 
were  cruelly  butchered  by  the  savages.  The  Indians  continued  their 
operations  against  the  forts  and  settlements  until  the  middle  of  the 
summer,  by  which  time  they  had  taken  every  fort  held  by  the  British, 
except  Detroit,  Fort  Pitt,  and  Niagara. 


For  the  three  years  succeeding  the  surrender  of  Montreal  to  the 
British  the  war  between  France  and  England  was  continued  on  the 
seas,  with  the  British  fleets  victorious  in  nearly  every  engagement. 
France  was  so  reduced  in  men  and  resources  that  she  was  forced 
to  come  to  very  humiliating  terms;  and  on  the  10th  of  February, 
1763,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  negotiated  at  Paris  between  the  bellig- 
erent nations.  By  this  treaty  France  surrendered  to  Great  Britain 
all  of  the  territory  claimed  by  the  French  east  of  the  Mississippi, 


and  Southwest  Virginia  201 

from  its  source  to  the  river  Iberville,  and  thence  through  Lakes 
Maurepas  and  Pontchartrain  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  In  the  same 
treaty  Spain,  with  whom  England  had  also  been  engaged  in  war, 
ceded  East  and  West  Florida  to  Great  Britain;  and,  in  lieu  of  this 
cession,  France  was  forced  to  cede  to  Spain  all  of  that  extensive 
and  magnificent  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi,  then  known  as 
the  Province  of  Louisiana.  Thus  was  France  deprived  of  all  her 
possessions  in  the  New  World;  and  thus  was  concluded  one  of  the 
most  important  wars  in  the  world's  history. 

The  French  and  Indian  War  is  worthy  of  much  consideration 
and  study  by  all  persons  who  are  interested  in  the  formation  and 
development  of  our  splendid  American  Republic.  This  war  not 
only  caused  extensive  and  important  changes  in  the  map  of  the 
world,  but  exercised  a  mighty  influence  upon  its  social,  political 
economic,  and  religious  thought.  During  its  progress  a  momentous 
struggle  was  going  on  in  Europe  between  the  Protestant  and  Cath- 
olic monarchs.  Frederick  the  Great,  of  Prussia,  was  standing  almost 
alone  as  the  defender  of  Protestanism  against  the  combined  forces 
of  France,  Austria,  Bavaria,  and  the  other  Catholic  countries  of  the 
Continent.  Bancroft  says:  "Among  the  rulers  of  the  European 
Continent,  Frederick,  with  but  four  millions  of  subjects,  stood  forth 
alone,  'the  unshaken  bulwark  of  Protestantism  and  freedom  of 
thought.'  "  It  is  known  that  after  George  Washington's  withdrawal 
from  the  service  of  Great  Britain  in  1761,  in  his  retirement  at  Mount 
Vernon,  he  kept  in  his  library  a  bust  of  Frederick,  whose  devoted 
struggles  for  political  and  religious  freedom  he  watched  with  the 
keenest  interest  and  profoundest  sympathy.  And  up  in  New  Eng- 
land, the  stern  Calvinists  were  constantly  sending  up  petitions  to 
Almighty  God  for  the  success  and  preservation  of  the  King  of 
Prussia  in  his  heroic  struggle  against  the  Papacy. 

To  the  Americans  this  war  was  one  of  vital  import,  in  that  it 
directed  the  attention  of  the  colonies  to  the  fact  that,  if  they  became 
united  in  sympathy  and  purpose,  they  need  be  no  longer  dependent 
upon  Great  Britain  for  protection  against  either  domestic  or  foreign 
foes.  Could  the  mother  countrj'^  have  foreseen  that  the  first  volley 
fired  in  the  war,  at  the  command  of  George  Washington,  was  the 
beginning  of  a  revolution  in  American  thought  and  purpose,  which 
in  a  few  years  would  constrain  the  colonies  to  proclaim  their  inde- 
pendence, England  would  not  have  been  so  eager  to  expel  the  French 
and  Spaniards  from  the  North  American  Continent. 

In    1742,   Baron  Montesquieu,  the   distinguished   French  jurist 


202  History  of  Tazewell  County 

and  philosopher,  gave  notice  to  the  intellectual  world  that  "a  free, 
prosperous  and  great  people  was  forming  in  the  forests  of  America, 
which  England  had  sent  forth  her  sons  to  inhabit."  Jaques  Turgot, 
a  distinguished  son  of  France,  when  only  twenty-three  years  old, 
in  1750,  made  accurate  prophesy  as  to  what  would  transpire  in 
America  before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  he  ex- 
claimed to  the  assembled  clergy  of  France:  "Vast  regions  of 
America!  Equality  keeps  from  them  both  luxury  and  want,  and 
preserves  to  them  purity  and  simplicity  with  freedom.  Europe 
herself  will  find  there  the  perfection  of  her  political  societies,  and 
the  surest  support  of  her  well  being.  Colonies  are  like  fruits,  which 
cling  to  the  tree  only  till  they  ripen :  Carthage  declared  itself  free 
as  soon  as  it  could  take  care  of  itself;  so  likewise  will  America." 

Ample  warning  was  given  by  other  great  men  as  to  what  results 
would  follow  the  French  and  Indian  War.  Just  at  the  beginning 
of  the  struggle,  David  Hume,  England's  "great  master  of  historic 
style,"  and  who  exposed  "the  hollowness  of  the  prevailing  systems 
of  thought  in  Europe,"  speaking  of  America,  said:  "The  seeds  of 
many  a  noble  state  have  been  sown  in  climates  kept  desolate  by  the 
wild  manners  of  the  ancient  inhabitants,  and  an  asylum  is  secured 
in  that  solitary  world  for  liberty  and  science." 

In  1760  an  interesting  interview  took  place  between  Lord  Cam- 
den, attorney  general  for  Great  Britain,  and  Benjamin  Franklin, 
who  was  visiting  England  in  the  interest  of  the  colonies.  Camden 
observed:  "For  all  what  Americans  say  of  your  loyalty,  and  not- 
withstanding your  boasted  affection,  you  will  one  day  set  up  for 
independence."  To  this  Dr.  Franklin  replied:  "No  such  idea  is 
entertained  by  the  Americans,  or  ever  will  be,  unless  you  grossly 
abuse  them."  Camden  promptly  rejoined:  "Very  true;  that  I  see 
will  happen,  and  will  produce  the  event." 

Dr.  Franklin  was  loyal  to  the  mother  country,  just  as  he  was 
true  to  everything  he  ever  espoused,  but  he  spake  truly  when  he 
gave  notice  that  he  and  his  fellow-Americans  would  not  submit  to 
further  gross  oppressions  from  the  British  Government.  And  Lord 
Camden  was  equally  as  sincere  when  lie  announced  his  conviction 
that  such  abuses  would  come  during  the  reign  of  George  III. ;  and 
that  the  American  colonies  would  declare  and  win  their  independ- 
ence. Just  after  the  treaty  of  peace  was  made  at  Paris,  in  1763, 
Vergennes,  the  French  ambassador  at  Constantinople,  declared: 
"The  consequences  of  the  entire  cession  of  Canada  are  obvious.  I 
am  persuaded  England  will  ere  long  repent  of  having  removed  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  203 

only  check  that  could  keep  her  colonies  in  awe.  They  stand  no 
longer  in  need  of  her  protection ;  she  will  call  on  them  to  contri- 
bute towards  supporting  the  burdens  they  have  helped  bring  on  her ; 
and  they  will  answer  by  striking  off  all  dependence." 

The  French  and  Indian  War  was  an  important  event  for  the 
Americans,  in  that  it  was  a  training  school  for  a  number  of  the  men 
who  became  famous  as  leaders  and  officers  of  the  armies  that  won 
independence  for  the  colonies.  It  also  prepared  a  number  for  direct- 
ing the  civil  affairs  of  the  United  Colonies  when  the  struggle  for 
escape  from  British  misrule  was  inaugurated.  George  Washington, 
Horatio  Gates,  Andrew  Lewis  and  Daniel  Morgan,  from  Virginia; 
and  John  Armstrong  and  Hugh  Mercer  from  Pennsylvania,  were 
with  Braddock  when  he  met  defeat  and  death  on  the  Monongahela. 
The  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  volunteers,  under  the  leadership  of 
Washington  and  Armstrong,  saved  the  panic-stricken  army  from 
total  annihilation  by  the  blood-thirty  Indians.  Israel  Putman,  of 
Connecticut,  John  Stark,  of  New  Hampshire,  and  Philip  Schuyler, 
of  New  York,  were  equally  as  conspicuous  and  useful  in  the  cam- 
paigns conducted  by  the  British  armies  in  Western  New  York  and 
in  Canada.  And  Francis  Marion  and  William  Moultrie,  two  of  the 
most  gallant  and  efficient  generals  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  were 
with  Colonels  Grant  and  Montgomery  when  those  British  officers 
made  their  invasions  of  the  Cherokee  country  to  bring  the  Cherokees 
into  submission.  These  noble  patriots  and  splendid  military  leaders 
of  the  Revolution  were  products  of  the  French  and  Indian  War. 
It  made  them  familiar  with  the  tactics  and  fighting  qualities  of  the 
British  armies;  and  acquainted  them  with  the  methods  of  the 
Indians  who  were  the  allies  of  Great  Britain. 


204  History  of  Tazewell  County 

CHAPTER  IV 
draper's  meadows  massacre  and  other  tragic  incidents. 

To  the  pioneer  settlers  who  liad  already  crossed  the  Alleghanies 
to  build  homes,  and  secure  for  themselves  and  their  children  per- 
sonal and  religious  freedom,  the  French  and  Indian  War  was  a 
fearful  tragedy.  Its  effect  upon  them  Avas  more  immediate  and  tell- 
ing than  it  was  ujDon  the  older  settlements  of  the  colonies,  or  the 
powerful  European  nations  that  engaged  in  the  war  from  a  desire 
of  conquest  and  commercial  supremacy  in  North  America.  For 
them  it  introduced  the  brutal  practice  of  paying  a  price  for  each 
scalp  of  a  white  person  who  was  butchered  by  the  Indians.  The 
red  men  had  previously  taken  the  scalps  of  their  dead  foes  to  keep 
and  exhibit  as  an  isignia  of  valor ;  but  in  this  cruel  war  the  French 
paid  their  savage  allies  so  much  for  each  English  scalp  they  brought 
in ;  and  the  savages  reaped  a  rich  harvest  from  the  battle  field  where 
Braddock's  army  was  beaten.  This  caused  the  British  to  offer  their 
savage  allies  a  reward  for  each  scalp  of  their  Indian  foes  that  was 
secured.  Perhaps  the  English  were  justified  in  making  this  cruel 
reprisal,  but  they  did  not  stop  there  in  the  brutal  practice.  In  the 
Revolutionary  War  and  the  War  of  1812,  the  British  Government 
paid  their  Indians  so  many  shillings  for  each  scalp  they  secured 
from  the  heads  of  Americans. 

For  sometime  previous  to  the  commencement  of  the  war,  the 
French  and  English  had  been  actively  competing  for  the  support  of 
the  Shawnees  and  other  tribes  that  inhabited  the  Ohio  Valley. 
When  the  Ohio  Company  sent  Chi'istopher  Gist  on  an  exploring 
expedition  to  the  Ohio  country  in  1750,  he  was  not  only  instructed 
to  "examine  the  western  country  as  far  as  the  falls  of  the  Ohio;  to 
look  for  a  large  tract  of  level  land;  to  mark  the  passes  in  the 
mountains ;  to  trace  the  courses  of  the  rivers ;"  but  he  was  specially 
directed  to  ascertain  the  strength  and  numbers  of  the  Indians  and 
to  secure  their  friendship  for  the  English.  In  obedience  to  these 
instructions,  he  crossed  the  Alleghanies  and  first  visited  a  small  town 
of  friendly  Delawares  on  the  east  side  of  the  Ohio ;  and  then  crossed 
the  river  and  traveled  down  to  Logstown.  It  was  then  occupied  by 
a  mixed  band  of  Senecas,  Mohicans,  Ottawas,  and  others,  with  nearly 
a  hundred  cabins.  These  Indians  had  become  very  jealous  of  the 
known  purposes  of  the  Ohio  Company,  and  told  Gist:     "You  have 


and  Southwest  Virginia  205 

come  to  settle  on  the  Indian  lands :  You  shall  never  go  home  safe/' 
though  they  treated  him  respectfully  as  an  accredited  messenger 
of  the  English  King.  Notliing  daunted  by  this  manifestation  of 
anger,  Gist  traveled  on  to  a  village  of  the  Ottawas  on  Elk's  Eye 
Creek,  and  found  its  people  warm  friends  of  the  French.  He  then 
visited  the  town  of  the  Wyandots  at  Muskingam  and  found  its  hun- 
dred families  about  equally  divided  in  sympathy  for  the  French 
and  English.  Those  who  were  friends  of  the  English  said  to  Gist: 
"Come  and  live  with  us;  bring  great  guns  and  make  a  fort.  If  the 
French  claim  the  branches  of  the  lakes,  those  of  the  Ohio  belong 
to  us  and  our  brothers,  the  English." 

The  Shawnees  were  then  located  on  both  sides  of  the  Ohio  just 
below  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto.  When  Gist  arrived  at  their  towns 
they  made  earnest  professions  of  friendship  for  the  Virginians,  and 
expressed  deep  gratitude  for  the  protection  that  had  been  given 
them  by  the  English  against  attacks  from  the  Six  Nations.  After 
leaving  the  Shawnee  towns,  the  English  envoys  next  visited  the 
Miamis  at  their  towns  on  the  Miami  River.  The  Miamis  were  an 
Algonquian  tribe  and  had  the  largest  and  most  powerful  confederacy 
in  the  west.  The  Virginians  and  Pennsylvanians  were  the  first 
white  men  of  the  English  race  to  see  the  splendid  countrj-  beyond 
the  Scioto.  They  found  the  land  rich  and  level,  with  alternating 
stretches  of  magnificent  forests  of  walnut,  maple,  wild  cherry  and 
ash,  and  beautiful  praries  carpeted  with  wild  rj^e,  blue  grass,  and 
white  clover;  and  fine  herds  of  deer,  elk  and  buffalo  grazing  thereon. 
It  was  the  very  kind  of  country  Gist  had  been  directed  to  search  for. 
and  he  and  his  companions  rapturously  declared  that:  "nothing  is 
wanting  but  cultivation  to  make  this  a  most  delightful  country." 

Christopher  Gist  and  his  company  remained  some  days  with  the 
various  tribes  of  the  Miami  Confederacy;  and,  then,  on  the  1st  day 
of  March,  1751,  started  for  Kentucky,  with  assurance  from  the 
Miamis  that  they  would  make  no  terms  with  the  French,  and  bearing 
to  the  English  authorities  the  message:  "Our  friendship  shall 
stand  like  the  loftiest  mountains."  The  shrewd  agent  of  the  Ohio 
Company  had  made  arrangements  for  all  the  friendly  tribes  of  the 
West  to  meet  the  following  summer  at  Logstown  to  make  a  treaty 
with  Virginia.  After  leaving  the  Miami  towns  he  descended  the 
Little  Miami  River  and  crossed  the  Ohio  into  Kentucky  at  a  point 
about  fifteen  miles  above  where  Louisville  is  now  situated.  Thence, 
as  hereinbefore  related,  he  traveled  through  Kentucky  and  South- 


206  History  of  Tazewell  County 

west  Virginia^  and  on  to  Williamsburg,  where  he  made  report  of 
the  accomplishments  of  the  expedition  to  Governor  Dinwiddie  and 
the  other  members  of  the  Ohio  Company. 

The  following  year  the  Ohio  Company,  with  the  approval  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia,  determined  to  place  a  settlement 
beyond  the  Alleghany  Mountains ;  and  Christopher  Gist  was  sent 
out  by  the  company  to  explore  the  lands  southeast  of  the  Ohio,  as 
far  as  the  Kanawha.  He  found  that  the  Indians  had  become  very 
suspicious  of  tlie  intentions  of  both  the  French  and  the  English. 
The  natives  had  begun  to  realize  that  the  two  great  European 
nations,  while  each  was  professing  great  regard  for  the  Indians, 
were  about  to  engage  in  a  mighty  struggle  for  permanent  possession 
of  an  extensive  and  valuable  territory  to  which  neither  had  any 
just  claim  of  ownership.  It  had  become  very  evident  that  France 
and  Great  Britain  were  both  maneuvering  to  get  the  assistance  of 
the  simple  natives  in  a  war  which  was  bound  to  result  in  robbing  the 
Indians  of  their  lands,  no  matter  whether  the  French  or  English 
were  victors.  Therefore  it  is  not  surprising  that  a  Delaware  chief 
said  to  Christopher  Gist:  "Where  lie  the  lands  of  the  Indians? 
The  French  claim  all  on  one  side  of  the  river  and  the  English  on 
the  other."  And  about  the  same  time  another  chief,  the  Half-King, 
declared:  "We  see  and  know  that  the  French  design  to  cheat  us 
out  of  our  lands.  We,  therefore,  desire  our  brothers  of  Virginia 
may  build  a  strong  house  at  the  fork  of  Monongahela." 

The  Ohio  Company  in  1753  built  a  road  by  way  of  Wills  Creek 
into  the  western  valley ;  and  Gist  established  a  settlement  with 
eleven  families.  He  marked  out  sites  for  a  town  and  a  fort  on 
Shurtees  Creek;  but  the  British  Government  gave  no  protection  to 
the  little  colony,  and  the  settlers  were  forced  to  flee  from  the 
Indians  and  French  in  a  very  short  time. 

In  the  meantime,  while  the  Virginians  and  Pennsylvanias  were 
negotiating  with  the  Indians  for  the  peaceful  occupation  of  the 
country  both  north  and  south  of  the  Ohio,  the  French  pushed  on 
down  from  the  lakes  and  took  possession  of  the  entire  region. 
DuQuesne  sent  twelve  hundred  men  to  occupy  the  valley  of  the 
Ohio.  The  Delawares,  Shawnees,  and  Mingoes  met  in  coimcil  at 
Logstown,  and  started  an  envoy  to  Montreal  to  protest  against  the 
invasion  of  their  country  by  an  armed  force,  but  he  was  turned  back 
at  Niagara  by  the  French,  who  told  him  it  was  useless  to  proceed 
to  Montreal. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  207 

draper's  meadows  massacre. 

By  shrewd  management,  with  bribes,  threats,  and  promises  of 
protecting  them  in  the  possession  of  their  lands,  the  French  secured 
as  their  allies  nearly  all  of  the  Indian  tribes  that  were  then  occupy- 
ing the  Ohio  Valley.  They  proved  very  efficient  and  faithful  allies ; 
and  were  a  potential  factor  in  winning  the  French  victory  over 
Braddock.  From  the  date  of  that  disaster  to  the  British  arms,  the 
Indians  began  to  send  marauding  parties  to  attack  the  settlers  in 
the  Valley  of  Virginia,  the  Upper  James  Valley,  the  Roanoke  Val- 
ley, and  the  few  settlements  that  had  been  made  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies  in  what  is  now  known  as  Southwest  Virginia.  In  fact 
the  scheme  of  terrorizing  the  Virginia  frontiers  with  scalping  par- 
ties was  put  in  motion  previous  to  Braddock's  defeat.  The  first 
blow  that  fell  upon  the  pioneers  of  Southwest  Virginia  was  the 
attack  made  by  a  band  of  Shawnees  on  the  settlement  at  Draper's 
Meadows,  at  the  present  site  of  the  Virginia  Polytechnic  Institute, 
at  Blacksburg.  This  settlement,  as  previously  related,  was  started 
in  1748.  Dr.  John  P.  Hale,  who  was  a  descendant  of  Mrs.  William 
Ingles,  one  of  the  victims  of  that  horrible  tragedy,  has  given  a 
concise  and  authentic  narrative  of  the  incident  in  his  book,  the 
"Trans-Alleghany  Pioneers."  He  thus  relates  the  story  as  told  to 
him  by  his  ancestors : 

"On  the  8th  of  July,  1755,  being  Sunday,  and  the  day  before 
Braddock's  memorable  defeat,  near  Fort  DuQuesne,  when  all  was 
peace,  and  there  was  no  suspicion  of  harm  or  danger,  a  party  of 
Shawnees  from  beyond  the  Ohio,  fell  upon  the  Draper's  Meadows 
settlement  and  killed,  wounded  or  captured  every  soul  there 
present,  as  follows: 

"Colonel  James  Patton,  Mrs.  George  Draper,  Casper  Barrier 
and  a  child  of  John  Draper,  killed;  Mrs.  John  Draper  and  James 
Cull,  wounded;  Mrs.  William  Ingles,  Mrs.  John  Draper,  Henry 
Lenard,  prisoners. 

"Mrs.  Draper,  being  out  of  doors,  a  short  distance  from  the 
house  first  discovered  the  enemy  approachii-ig,  and  under  circum- 
stances indicating  hostile  intent. 

"She  ran  into  the  house  to  give  the  alarm  and  to  get  her  sleeping 
infant.  Taking  the  child  in  her  arms  she  ran  out  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  house  and  tried  to  make  her  escape.  The  Indians  dis- 
covered her,  however,  and  fired  on  her  as  she  ran,  breaking  her  right 
arm  and  causing  the  child  to  fall.     She  hastily  picked  it  up  again 


208  History  of  Tazewell  County 

with  her  left  hand,  and  continued  her  flight.  She  was  soon  over*- 
taken,  however,  and  made  a  prisoner,  and  the  child  brained  against 
one  of  the  house  logs.  The  other  Indians,  meanwhile,  were  devot- 
ing their  attention  to  other  members  of  the  families  and  camp,  with 
the  results  in  killed,  wounded,  and  captured,  as  above  stated. 

"Colonel  James  Patton,  who  had  large  landed  interests  hereabout, 
was  here  at  this  time  and  with  him  his  nephew,  William  Preston. 

"Whether  Colonel  Patton  was  only  temporarily  here,  or  was 
then  making  this  his  home,  I  do  not  know.  He  had  command  of  the 
Virginia  Militia  in  this  region,  and  had  just  bought  up  a  supply  of 
powder  and  lead  for  use  of  the  settlements,  which,  I  believe,  the 
Indians  secured. 

"Early  on  the  morning  of  the  attack,  Colonel  Patton  had  sent 
young  Preston  over  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Philip  Lybrook,  on  Sinking 
Creek,  to  get  him  to  come  over  and  help  next  day  with  the  harvest, 
which  was  ready  to  be  cut,  and  this  fortunate  absence  doubtless 
saved  young  Preston's  life. 

"Colonel  Patton  was  sitting  at  a  table  writing  when  the  attack 
was  made,  with  his  broadsword,  which  he  always  kept  with  him, 
lying  on  the  table  before  him.  He  was  a  man  of  large  frame  (he 
was  six  feet  four  inches  in  height),  and  herculean  strength.  He  cut 
down  two  of  the  Indians  with  his  sword,  as  they  rushed  uj)on  him, 
but  was,  in  turn,  shot  down  himself  by  others  out  of  his  reach.  He 
was  a  widower,  sixty-three  years  of  age,  and  full  of  health  and  vigor 
when  he  met  his  untimely  death." 

When  the  attack  was  made  William  Ingles  was  in  a  grain  field 
some  distance  from  the  house,  possibly  in  the  field  from  which  the 
grain  was  to  be  harvested  the  next  day.  As  soon  as  he  saw  the 
smoke  and  flames  of  the  buildings,  which  the  Indians  had  set  fire 
to,  he  apprehended  that  sometliing  serious  had  happened,  and  ran 
rapidly  to  the  aid  of  his  family.  He  saw  the  large  number  of 
Indians  and  realized  that  it  was  folly  for  him,  unarmed  as  he  was, 
to  offer  resistance,  and  turned  to  make  his  escape;  but  he  had  been 
seen  by  the  Indians  and  was  pursued  by  two  of  the  warriors.  They 
failed,  however,  to  capture  him;  and  he  and  John  Draper,  who  was 
from  home  when  the  massacre  occurred,  went  to  the  settlements 
farther  east  to  get  assistance. 

Mrs.  Ingles  had  two  small  sons,  Thomas,  who  was  four  years 
old,  and  George,  three  years  old,  who  were  also  captured.  Dr.  Hale 
failed  to  mention  the  boys  in  the  above  list  of  captives,  but  refers  to 


and  Southwest  Virginia  209 

them  frequently  as  he  proceeds  with  his  narrative.  The  Indians 
collected  much  valuable  booty — guns,  ammunition,  and  household 
goods.  These  things  were  packed  on  some  of  the  horses  of  the  set- 
tlers, and  the  women  and  children  were  placed  on  other  horses; 
and  the  march  was  then  started  for  the  Indian  towns.  Dr.  Hale 
says: 

"About  half  a  mile  or  mile  to  the  west,  on  their  route,  they 
stopped  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Philip  Barger,  an  old  and  white  haired 
man,  cut  his  head  off,  put  it  in  a  bag,  and  took  it  with  them  to  the 
house  of  Philip  Lybrook,  on  Sinking  Creek,  where  they  left  it, 
telling  Mrs.  Lybrook  to  look  in  the  bag  and  she  would  find  an 
acquaintance." 

It  seems  that  Philip  Lybrook  and  William  Preston  had  left 
Lyb rook's  house,  and  had  taken  what  was  called  a  "near  cut"  across 
the  mountains  for  Draper's  Meadows,  to  help  in  the  harvest  field 
the  next  day.  This  saved  them  from  encountering  the  Indians,  and, 
no  doubt,  preserved  their  lives.  There  is  no  record  of  the  route  fol- 
lowed by  the  Indians  and  their  captives,  but  it  is  evident  that  they 
traveled  down  New  River,  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  Indian  Creek. 
There  they  crossed  the  river  and  followed  it  to  the  mouth  of  Blue- 
stone,  passed  up  that  stream  a  short  distance,  then  proceeded  along 
the  route  of  what  afterwards  was  known  as  the  Giles,  Raleigh  and 
Fayette  Turnpike  to  the  head  of  Paint  Creek.  This  stream  was  fol- 
lowed to  the  Kanawha  River  which  they  crossed  to  the  northeast 
side,  possibly  at  Witcher's  Creek  Shoals. 

Dr.  Hale  says  that:  "On  the  night  of  the  third  day  out,  the 
course  of  nature,  which  waits  not  upon  conveniences  nor  surround- 
ings, was  fulfilled,  and  Mrs.  Ingles,  far  from  human  habitation,  in 
the  wide  forest,  unbounded  by  walls,  with  only  the  bosom  of  mother 
earth  for  a  couch,  and  covered  by  the  green  trees  and  the  canopy 
of  heaven,  with  a  curtain  of  darkness  around  her,  gave  birth  to  an 
infant  daughter.  *  *  *  Owing  to  her  perfect  physical  consti- 
tution, health  and  training,  she  was  next  morning  able  to  travel, 
and  did  resume  the  journey,  carrying  the  little  stranger  in  her  arms, 
on  horseback." 

Upon  arrival  at  the  salt  spring,  just  above  the  mouth  of  Camp- 
bell's Creek,  the  Indians  made  a  lialt  of  several  days  to  get  a  supply 
of  game  and  salt  to  take  to  their  towns.  The  pots  and  kettles  that 
were  taken  from  the  houses  of  the  captives  were  used  for  boiling 

the  salt  water.     Mrs.  Ingles  and  the  other  prisoners  did  the  salt 
T.H. — 14 


210  History  of  Tazewell  County 

making  while  the  Indians  were  hunting  and  killing  the  fine  game 
that  came  to  the  "Lick"  for  salt. 

After  resting  and  hunting  several  days  at  the  salt  spring,  the 
Indians  and  their  captives  resumed  their  journey;  and  about  one 
month  after  the  Draper's  Meadow  massacre  the  party  reached  the 
Shawnee  town  at  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto  River.     The  marauders 
were   received  witli   much   glee  by   all   the  members   of   the   tribe, 
and  delight  was  expressed  at  the  success  of  the  bloody  enterprise. 
All  the  captives,  except  Mrs.  Ingles  and  her  children,  were  required 
to  "run  the  gauntlet."     It  seems  that  she  had,  by  tact  and  intelligent 
service,  secured  the  good  will  of  her  captors.     Mrs.  Draper,  though 
still  suffering  from  the  wound  in  her  arm,  was  made  to  endure  the 
agony  of  the  terrible  ordeal,  as  did  Henry  Lenard  and  James  Cull, 
the  two  men  captured  at  Draper's  Meadows.     It  is  more  than  prob- 
able that  these  men  were  killed  while  passing  through  the  ordeal, 
as  there  is  no  known  record  of  them  after  the  event.     A  few  days 
afterward,  the  Indians  raiders  met  for  a  division  and  distribution 
of  the  spoils,  including  the  captives.     The  prisoners  were  alloted 
to   different  persons   and  became  widely   separated.      Mrs.    Ingles 
and  her  infant  remained  at  the  Shawnee  town,  while  her  little  sons, 
Thomas  and  George,  were  taken  to  Detroit.     George  died  a  short 
time  after  he  arrived  at  that  place,  and  Thomas  remained  with  the 
Indians  for  thirteen  years,  when  he  was  at  last  found  by  his  father 
and  ransomed.     As  Thomas  Ingles  was  a  prominent  figure  in  the 
pioneer  settlement  of  Tazewell  County  his  interesting  life  will  be 
given  more  ample  notice  in  connection  therewith. 

Mrs.  Draper  was  taken  to  Chillicothe,  where  she  was  adopted 
into  the  family  of  an  old  chief;  and  after  six  years  of  captivity 
was  ransomed  by  her  husband,  John  Draper,  and  brought  back  to 
her  home  on  New  River.  She  was  kindly  treated  until  she  made 
an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  escape,  which  provoked  for  her  the  usual 
penalty,  burning  at  the  stake;  but  the  old  Indian,  of  whose  family 
she  had  become  a  member,  concealed  her  until  he  secured  her  pardon. 
ResigTiing  herself  to  her  cruel  fate,  she  resolved  to  win  the  confidence 
and  favor  of  the  tribe.  She  taught  the  women  to  sew  and  cook, 
and  nursed  the  sick  and  wounded  so  tenderly  that  the  Indians  pro- 
nounced her  a  "heap  good  medicine  squaw."  John  Draper  had  been 
unwearied  in  his  efforts  to  find  and  secure  the  release  of  his  wife 
from  captivity,  but  failed  in  every  attempt  to  locate  her,  until  1761. 
In  that  year  a  treaty  was  made  between  the  Indians  and  the  whites 
and  Mr.  Draper  attended  the  assembly  with  the  hope  of  getting  some 


and  Southwest  Virginia  211 

information  about  his  wife.  The  old  Indian  chief  in  whose  family 
she  was  living  was  at  the  meeting,  and  Draper  was  at  last  rewarded 
with  success  in  his  search  for  his  absent  wife.  A  heavy  ransom 
was  demanded  and  paid,  and  husband  and  wife  were  happily 
reunited  after  a  separation  of  six  years.  They  returned  to  their 
home  at  Draper's  Meadows,  but  in  1765  Mr.  Draper  exchanged  his 
land  at  Draper's  Meadows  for  a  splendid  boundary  west  of  New 
River  in  the  present  county  of  Pulaski,  to  which  place  he  moved, 
giving  it  the  name  of  "Draper's  Valley."  A  part  of  this  land  is 
still  owned  and  occupied  by  Draper's  descendants.  Seven  children 
were  born  to  John  and  Betty  Draper  after  she  was  rescued  from 
captivity.  Mrs.  Draper  died  in  1774,  the  year  of  Dunmore's  War, 
and  John  Draper  two  years  afterwards  married  Mrs.  Jane  Crockett, 
a  widow,  by  whom  he  had  two  daughters.  He  was  a  lieutenant  in 
Dunmore's  War  and  did  gallant  service  at  the  battle  of  Point 
Pleasant. 


In  a  little  while  after  the  division  and  separation  of  the  Draper's 
Meadows  captives,  a  party  of  Shawnee  Indians  and  several  French 
traders  went  to  Big  Bone  Lick,  which  is  about  one  himdred  and 
fifty  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto  River,  in  the  present 
Boone  County,  Kentucky.  The  object  of  the  Indians  was  to  make 
salt  and  to  hunt  the  big  game  that  came  to  the  Lick,  while  the 
French  were  along  to  buy  pelts  from  the  redskins.  Remembering 
the  efficiency  Mrs.  Ingles  had  shown  as  a  salt  maker  at  the  salt 
spring  on  the  Kanawha,  the  Indians  took  her  with  them  to  assist 
in  the  work.  They  also  took  along  a  Dutch  woman,  who  was 
named  Stump,  whom  they  had  captured  in  Pennsylvania  near  Fort 
Du  Quesne.  Mrs.  Ingles,  after  much  persuasion,  gained  the  con- 
sent of  the  Dutch  woman  to  join  her  in  an  attempt  to  escape  and 
return,  if  possible,  to  their  respective  homes.  The  unhappy  woman 
knew  that  if  she  made  the  desperate  venture  she  would  have  to  leave 
her  infant  daughter  with  the  Indians ;  and  that  meant  a  sacrifice 
of  her  child,  either  by  cruel  death  or  permanent  separation  from 
it.  But  she  realized  that  her  first  duty  was  to  her  husband  and  an 
effort  to  recover  her  little  boys  from  captivity.  So,  she  decided 
to  abandoned  her  child.  After  placing  "the  dear  little  babe  as 
cosily  as  she  could  in  a  little  bark  cradle,  gave  it  her  last  parting 
kisses  and  baptism  .of  tears,  tore  herself  away,  and  was  gone,  never 
to  see  it  again  in  this  world." 


212  History  of  Tazewell  County 

The  two  women  started  late  in  the  afternoon  on  their  long  and 
perilous  journey.  They  each  had  a  blanket  and  a  tomahawk,  but 
no  food  or  clothing  except  the  scanty  apparel  they  were  wearing. 
With  no  roads  to  follow  and  without  compass,  they  concluded  to 
make  their  way  to  the  Ohio  and  follow  that  stream  up  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Kanawha ;  and  then  j  ourney  up  that  river  until  they  arrived 
at  a  point  near  Draper's  Meadows.  The  route  as  mapped  out  was 
followed  pretty  closely,  though  it  was  rugged  and  wild,  and  many 
severe  hardships  were  encountered.  For  the  forty  days  that  were 
occupied  in  making  the  journey,  they  had  no  food  but  nuts  and 
berries,  and  a  little  raw  corn.  And  they  had  no  shelter  at  night 
but  caves,  hollow  logs  and  an  occasional  deserted  Indian  camp. 

Exposed  to  dangers  innumerable  and  suffering  from  hunger 
almost  intolerable,  Mrs.  Ingles  was  at  last  forced  to  desert  Mrs. 
Stump,  because  the  old  Dutch  woman  was  so  crazed  by  starvation 
that  she  tried  to  kill  her  companion  to  appease  her  hunger.  This 
occurred  when  they  reached  a  point  where  East  River  flows  into 
New  River.  Mrs.  Ingles  sought  to  divert  the  old  woman  from  her 
murderous  intention  by  proposing  that  they  should  draw  lots  as  to 
which  should  die,  and  Mrs.  Ingles  lost  in  the  drawing.  Then  began 
a  life  and  death  struggle  between  the  two.  Mrs.  Ingles  succeeded  in 
tearing  herself  from  the  grasp  of  the  old  woman,  who  had  become 
exhausted  by  the  struggle,  and  started  again  up  the  river.  When 
she  got  beyond  the  vision  of  the  poor  old  creature  she  concealed 
herself  under  the  bank  of  the  river  until  her  dangerous  companion 
passed  by.  She  remained  in  liiding  until  night  came  on.  The  moon 
was  shining,  and  she  fortunately  discovered  an  old  canoe  on  the  river 
bank.  It  was  half  filled  with  leaves  and  had  no  oar  or  paddle.  But 
the  resolute  young  woman,  who  had  never  handled  a  canoe,  resolved 
to  cross  the  river  in  the  frail  boat  and  pursue  her  journey  on  the 
east  side  of  the  stream,  and  thus  avoid  further  danger  from  Mrs. 
Stump.  She  found  a  slab  that  had  been  torn  from  a  tree  by  light- 
ning, and  using  this  slab  for  a  paddle  she  reached  the  eastern  shore 
of  New  River  in  safety.  The  following  morning  Mrs.  Ingles 
resumed  her  journey,  and  after  traveling  a  short  distance  saw  the 
old  Dutch  woman  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  They  were 
near  enough  to  each  other  to  have  a  conversation ;  and  the  old  woman 
expressed  great  sorrow  for  her  action  the  previous  day.  She  plead 
with  Mrs.  Ingles  to  cross  the  river  and  continue  the  journey  with 
her ;  but  the  young  woman  declined,  and  they .  continued  and  com- 
pleted their  journey  on  opposite  sides  of  the  stream. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  213 

Mrs.  Ingles  was  now  within  thirty  miles  of  Draper's  Meadows, 
but  was  so  exhausted  from  hunger  and  exposure  that  she  began 
to  despair  of  ever  reaching  her  desired  destination.  At  many  points 
on  the  eastern  shore  of  New  River  the  cliffs  project  very  closely 
to  the  edge  of  tlie  water,  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  she 
passed  along  the  rocky  shore.  Struggling  on,  she  at  last  reached 
the  immense  cliff  just  below  Eggleston's  Springs.  This  cliff  pro- 
jects out  to  and  overhangs  the  river,  and  is  280  feet  high  at  the 
highest  point.  There  are  no  shelving  rocks  for  footholds  along  the 
base  of  the  cliff,  and  Mrs.  Ingles  was  unable  to  pass  around  it 
as  she  had  the  cliffs  further  down  the  river.  There  was  snow  on 
the  ground  and  the  water  was  icy  cold,  but  the  brave  woman  tried  to 
wade  around  at  the  base  of  the  cliff.  The  water  is  very  deep  up  to 
the  cliff's  edge,  and  could  not  be  waded.  She  had  to  pass  the  night 
on  the  bare  ground,  shivering  and  hungry.  The  following  morning, 
with  almost  superhuman  effort,  she  climbed  over  the  giant  cliff. 
It  took  her  all  day  to  accomplish  what  proved  to  be  her  final  mighty 
struggle  to  reach  her  husband  and  home.  Dr.  Hale  thus  relates 
what  immediately  followed  the  scaling  of  the  cliff. 

"Mrs.  Ingles,  after  getting  to  the  bottom  of  the  cliff,  had  gone 
but  a  short  distance  when,  to  her  joyful  surpi-ise,  she  discovered  just 
before  her,  a  patch  of  com.  She  approached  it  as  rapidly  as  she 
could  move  her  painful  limbs  along. 

"She  saw  no  one,  but  thei*e  were  evident  signs  of  persons  about. 
She  hallooed;  at  first  there  was  no  response,  but  relief  was  near  at 
hand.     She  was  about  to  be  saved,  and  just  in  time. 

"She  had  been  heard  by  Adam  Harmon  and  his  two  sons,  whose 
patch  it  was,  and  who  were  in  it  gathering  their  corn. 

"Suspecting,  upon  hearing  a  voice,  that  there  might  be  an 
intended  attack  by  Indians,  they  grabbed  their  rifles,  always  kept 
close  at  hand,  and  listened  attentively. 

"Mrs  Ingles  hallooed  again.  They  came  out  of  the  corn  and 
towards  her,  cautiously,  rifles  in  hand.  When  near  enough  to  dis- 
tinguish the  voice — Mrs.  Ingles  still  hallooing — Adam  Harmon 
remarked  to  his  sons:  'Surely,  that  must  be  Mrs.  Ingles'  voice.' 
Just  then  she,  too,  recognized  Harmon,  when  she  was  overwhelmed 
with  emotions  of  joy  and  relief,  poor,  overtaxed  nature  gave  way, 
and  she  swooned  and  fell,  insensible,  to  the  ground. 

"They  picked  her  up  tenderly  and  conveyed  her  to  their  little 
cabin,  near  at  hand,  where  there  was  protection  from  the  storm, 
a  rousing  fire  and  substantial  comfort. 


214  History  of  Tazewell  County 

"Mrs.  Ingles  soon  revived,  and  the  Harmons  were  unremitting 
in  their  kind  attentions  and  efforts  to  promote  her  comfort.  They 
had  in  their  cabin  a  stock  of  fresh  venison  and  bear  meat;  they  set 
to  work  to  cook  and  make  a  soup  of  some  of  this,  and,  with  excellent 
judgment,  would  permit  their  patient  to  take  but  little  at  a  time, 
in  her  famished  condition. 

"While  answering  her  hurried  questions  as  to  what  they  knew 
about  her  home  and  friends,  they  warmed  some  water  in  their  skillet 
and  bathed  her  stiff  and  swollen  feet  and  limbs,  after  which  they 
wrapped  her  in  their  blankets  and  stowed  her  away  tenderly  on 
their  pallet  in  the  corner,  which  to  her,  by  comparison,  was  'soft 
as  downy  pillows  are,'  a  degree  of  luxur}'  she  had  not  experienced 
since  she  was  torn  from  her  home  by  ruthless  savages,  more  than 
four  months  before. 

"Under  these  new  and  favoring  conditions  of  safety  and  comfort, 
it  is  no  wonder  that  'nature's  sweet  restorer'  soon  came  to  her  relief 
and  bathed  her  wearied  senses  and  aching  limbs  in  balmj^,  restful  and 
refreshing  sleep." 

How  tenderly  and  sweetly  has  the  lineal  descendant  of  Mrs. 
Ingles  told  of  her  dramatic  arrival  and  reception  at  the  cabin  home 
of  her  former  neighboi'S  and  friends,  Adam  Harmon  and  his  two 
sons.  And  what  a  splendid  tribute  he  has  paid  to  the  gallantry  and 
kindness  of  heart  of  these  rugged  pioneers  of  the  New  River  Valley. 
They  were  the  kindred  of  the  Harmons  who  were  among  the  first 
settlers  in  the  Clinch  Valley;  and  hundreds  of  their  relations  are 
still  here. 

Mrs.  Ingles  remained  several  days  resting  and  feasting  with  her 
hospitable  and  delighted  friends,  the  Harmons.  The  elder  Harmon, 
over  the  protest  of  his  guest,  actually  killed  a  nice  young  beef,  that 
had  been  fattened  on  the  wild  pea  vine,  to  procux-e  a  small  piece  of 
meat  to  make  her  some  beef  tea,  which  he  had  heard  was  a  par- 
ticularly good  diet  for  invalids.  As  soon  as  Mrs.  Ingles  thought 
herself  sufficiently  recuperated  to  travel,  she  was  placed  on  a  horse 
and  Adam  Harmon  mounted  another,  to  accompany  and  protect  her ; 
and  they  went  to  Draper's  Meadows,  some  fifteen  miles  distant. 
On  arrival  they  found  that  the  settlers  at  that  place  had  been 
alarmed  by  a  report  of  another  invasion  by  the  Indians,  and  had 
fled  to  the  fort  at  Dunkard's  Bottom  for  safety.  Without  delay 
Mrs.  Ingles  and  Harmon  traveled  on  to  Dunkard's  Bottom,  and 
got  there  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day  they  started  from  Har- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  215 

mon's  home.  Mrs.  Ingles  was  pleased  to  meet  again  a  few  of  her 
old  friends,  but  was  sadly  disappointed  at  not  finding  her  husband, 
and  her  brother,  John  Draper,  at  the  fort.  The  next  morning  after 
Mrs.  Ingles  arrived  at  Dunkard's  Bottom  she  prevailed  on  Adam 
Harmon  to  go  in  search  of  the  old  Dutch  woman.  He  found  her 
near  the  mouth  of  Back  Creek,  about  where  the  village  of  Bell  Spring 
is  now  situated,  and  took  her  up  to  the  fort.  Before  a  great  while, 
Mrs.  Stump  found  an  opportunity  to  go  to  Winchester,  and  from 
that  point  she  journeyed  on  to  her  home  in  Pennsylvania. 

Some  weeks  previous  to  the  arrival  of  Mrs.  Ingles  at  Dunkard's 
Bottom,  her  husband,  and  her  brother,  John  Draper,  had  gone  on  a 
journey  to  the  Cherokee  towns  in  Tennessee,  to  see  if  they  could 
get  any  information  through  these  friendly  Indians  of  their  wives 
and  children  who  had  been  captured  at  Draper's  Meadows.  Ingles 
and  Draper  failed  to  accomplish  anything  by  their  trip  to  the 
Cherokees,  and  were  returning  heavy-hearted  to  the  settlements. 
The  night  Mrs.  Ingles  reached  Dunkard's  Bottom,  the  two  disap- 
pointed, weary  men  stayed  all  night  at  a  point  about  three  miles 
west  of  the  fort,  near  where  the  town  of  Newbem,  in  Pulaski 
County,  was  afterwards  located.  The  following  morning  they  went 
very  early  to  the  fort  to  get  their  breakfast,  and  were  joyfully 
surprised  to  find  Mrs.  Ingles  there.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ingles  had 
remained  at  the  Dunkard's  Bottom  Fort  but  a  short  time  when 
information  was  received  of  another  impending  incursion  by  the 
Shawnees ;  and  they  went  to  Vass'  Fort,  some  twenty  miles  east 
of  Dunkard's  Bottom,  where  they  believed  they  would  find  greater 
safety.  This  fort  was  located  on  the  east  side  of  the  Alleghany 
Mountains,  on  the  headwaters  of  Roanoke  River,  and  about  one 
mile  west  of  the  present  village  of  Shawsville,  in  Montgomery 
County. 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  175(5  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Ingles 
went  to  Vass'  Fort.  They  had  been  there  but  a  few  weeks  when  Mrs. 
Ingles  had  a  presentiment  that  the  Indians  were  going  to  attack 
the  place.  She  was  so  greatly  alarmed  that  Mr.  Ingles  took  her 
east  of  the  Blue  Ridge  to  a  fort  in  Bedford  County,  which  was  near 
the  Peaks  of  Otter.  Strange  to  say,  the  very  day  they  started 
across  the  Blue  Ridge  the  mental  premonition  of  INIrs.  Ingles  was 
fulfilled.  The  attack  on  Fort  Vass  was  made  in  the  summer  of 
1756,  or  about  one  year  subsequent  to  the  massacre  at  Draper's 
Meadows,  and  was  even  more  horrible  in  its  consequences.  Dr. 
Hale,  whose  kindred  were  the  chief  sufferers  in  this  second  tragedy 


216  History  of  Tazewell  County 

in  what  is  now  Montgomery  County,  Virginia,  from  well  authen- 
ticated tradition  thus  describes  the  terrible  incident: 

"John  and  ]\Iatthew  Ingles,  the  younger  brothers  of  William 
Ingles,  were  at  this  fort.  John  was  a  bachelor.  Matthew  had  a 
wife  and  one  child.  Before  the  attack  was  made,  but  after  the  forrt 
was  surrounded,  an  Indian  climbed  a  tall  poplar  tree  which  com- 
manded a  view  of  the  interior,  to  take  an  observation.  He  was 
discovered  and  fired  on  from  the  fort,  and  it  is  the  tradition  that  it 
was  the  rifle  of  John  Ingles  that  brought  him  down. 

"Matthew  Ingles  was  out  hunting  when  the  attack  was  made; 
hearing  the  firing,  he  hastened  back,  and  tried  to  force  his  way 
into  the  Fort,  to  his  wife  and  child ;  he  shot  one  Indian  with  the  load 
in  his  gun,  then  clubbed  others  with  the  butt  until  he  broke  the  stock 
off;  by  this  time  the  gun-barrel  was  wrenched  from  his  hands,  when 
he  seized  a  frying-pan  that  happened  to  be  lying  near,  and,  breaking 
off  the  bowl  or  pan  with  his  foot,  he  belabored  them  with  the  iron 
handle,  right  and  left,  until  he  was  knocked -down,  ovei'iDowered  and 
badly  wounded.  The  tradition  says  that  he  killed  two  Indians  with 
the  frying-pan. 

"His  bravery  and  desperate  fighting  had  so  excited  the  admi- 
ration of  the  Indians  that  they  would  not  kill  him,  but  carried  him 
off  a  prisoner.  He  was  either  released  or  made  his  escape  some 
time  after,  and  returned  to  the  settlement,  but  never  entirely 
recovered  from  his  wounds.  He  died  at  Ingles'  Ferry  a  few  months 
later.  His  wife  and  child  were  murdered  in  the  Fort  as  was  his 
brother  John." 

From  the  diary  of  Colonel  William  Preston,  which  is  published 
in  the  papers  of  Lyman  C.  Draper,  and  from  other  sources  the  fol- 
lowing appears  to  be  an  accurate  list  of  the  persons  killed,  wounded 
and  captured  at  Fort  Vass: 

Lieutenant  John  Smith,  John  Ingles,  John  Robinson,  and  Mrs. 
Matthew  Ingles  and  child,  killed ;  William  Robinson,  Thomas  Robin- 
son, Samuel  Robinson,  and  Matthew  Ingles,  wounded ;  Peter  Looney, 
William  Bratton,  Joseph  Smith,  William   Pepper,  Mrs.   Vass   and 

two  daughters,  James  Bell,  Christopher  Hicks,  Cole,  

Graham,  Benj.  Davies,  and  John  Walker,  prisoners.  It  is  probable 
that  all  the  wounded  were  carried  off  as  prisoners.  Some  of  the 
captives  made  their  escape,  but  whether  this  happened  while  en 
route  to  the  Ohio  country  or  after  arrival  at  the  Indian  towns  is 


and  Southwest  Virginia  217 

not  known.  Those  who  made  theix*  escape  were:  Captain  John 
Smith;,  Peter  Looney^  William  Bratton  and  Matthew  Ingles. 

There  are  several  excellent  reasons  for  giving,  as  I  have  done, 
a  somewhat  extended  account  of  the  massacre  at  Draper's  Meadows. 
It  was  the  first  serious  outrage  committed  by  the  Indians  upon  the 
pioneer  settlers  of  Southwest  Virginia;  and  was  typical  of  quite  a 
number  of  similar  tragedies  that  were  later  to  be  enacted  in  the 
New  River,  Clinch  River  and  Holston  River  valleys.  It  also 
furnished,  in  the  persons  and  charactei-s  of  Mrs.  William  Ingles  and 
Mrs.  John  Draper,  excellent  types  of  the  noble  pioneer  women  who 
came  to  this  section  with  their  husbands  and  fathers  to  do  their  part 
in  transforming  a  dense  wilderness  region  into  a  land  of  beautiful 
homes,  to  be  occupied  by  a  thrifty  and  intelligent  people. 

The  Draper's  Meadows  massacre  was  also  an  important  event 
in  connection  with  the  history  of  Tazewell  County,  as  Colonel  James 
Patton  was  the  central  and  commanding  figure  of  this  first  murder- 
ous assault  by  the  Indians  upon  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Southwest 
Virginia.  He  was  the  first  man  to  organize  and  bring  an  exploring 
and  surveying  party  to  the  section  of  Virginia  west  of  New  River. 
This  was  in  1748,  and,  as  has  been  previously  related,  he  then  visited 
Burke's  Garden,  and  in  1750  and  1753  had  surveying  done  on  the 
headwaters  of  Clinch  River,  and  in  Abb's  Valley.  He  thus  prepared 
the  way  for  those  who  came  to  settle  in  what  is  now  known  as 
Tazewell  County. 


218  History  of  Tazewell  County 

CHAPTER  V. 

HOLSTON   VALLEY   INVADED   BY   INDIANS THE   SANDY   EXPEDITION. 

In  the  summer  of  1755,  just  about  the  time  of  the  attack  upon 
Draper's  Meadows,  a  scalping  party  of  Shawnees  made  an  incursion 
into  the  Middle  Holston  Valle3\  They  attacked  the  more  exposed 
settlements,  killed  several  settlers  and  captured  others.  Captain 
Samuel  Stalnaker,  who  then  had  his  cabin  home  some  four  or  five 
miles  west  of  the  present  town  of  Marion,  Smyth  County,  Virginia, 
was  made  a  captive,  and  Mrs.  Stalnaker  and  Adam  Stalnaker  were 
killed.  The  presumption  is  that  they  were  the  wife  and  son  of 
Samuel  Stalnaker.  He  was  the  man  whose  house  Dr.  Walker  and 
party  helped  to  "raise"  in  March,  1750,  while  they  were  en  route 
to  Cumberland  Gap  and  Kentucky.  Stalnaker  and  the  other  pris- 
oners were  taken  through  or  across  the  Clinch  Valley  by  the  Indians 
on  their  return  to  their  towns  in  Ohio.  This  is  evidenced  by  the 
journal  of  Colonel  William  Preston  who  commanded  a  company  in 
the  expedition  of  Colonel  Andrew  Lewis,  known  in  history  as  the 
"Sandy  Expedition,"  and  which  was  made  in  the  months  of  February 
and  March,  1756.  While  traveling  down  the  stream  that  Colonel 
Preston  called  "Sandy  Creek,"  on  Sundy  the  29th  of  February, 
1756,  he  noted  in  his  journal:  "This  creek  has  been  much  fre- 
quented by  Indians  both  traveling  and  hunting  on  it,  and  from  late 
signs  I  am  apprehensive  that  Stalnaker  and  the  prisoners  taken  with 
him  were  carried  this  way."  Captain  Stalnaker  made  his  escape 
from  the  Indians,  but  when,  where,  or  how  is  not  recorded  in  any 
history,  nor  is  there  any  record  showing  what  was  the  fate  of  the 
other  prisoners. 

There  were  a  number  of  persons  killed,  wounded,  and  captured 
on  New  River  and  Reed  Creek  by  the  Shawnees  who  persisted  in 
sending  scalping  parties  to  those  sections  in  the  summer  and  fall 
of  1755,  and  in  February  and  March  1756.  It  was  to  avenge  the 
outrages  inflicted  upon  the  settlers  in  the  New  River  and  Holston 
valleys,  as  well  as  the  massacre  at  Draper's  Meadows,  that  the 
"Sandy  Expedition"  was  projected.  The  purpose  of  this  expedi- 
tion was  to  march  to  the  Ohio  River  and  punish  the  Shawnees,  by 
killing  as  many  of  them  as  possible,  and  to  destroy  their  towns. 

Colonel  Andrew  Lewis  was  commander  of  the  expedition,  and 
his  forces  consisted  of  about  four  hundred  men,  including  one  hun- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  219 

dred,  or  more,  Cherokee  and  Chickasaw  Indians,  who  had  been 
induced  to  become  allies  of  the  Virginians  in  the  French  and  Indian 
War.  This  small  army  was  composed  of  Augusta  County  militia 
and  four  companies  of  volunteers.  The  several  military  companies 
were  commanded  by  Captains  Peter  Hogg,  William  Preston,  John 
Smith,  Samuel  Overton,  and  Obediah  Woodson;  and  the  four  volun- 
teer companies  were  under  the  command  of  Captains  Robert  Breck- 

enridge,  Archibald  Alexander,  John  Montgomery,  and  ■ Dunlap. 

The  Indians  had  been  recruited  by  Captain  Richard  Pearis  and 
were  commanded  by  him. 

This  expedition  was  assembled  at  Fort  Prince  George,  aftei^ 
wards  called  Fort  Lewis,  four  miles  west  of  where  Salem,  Roanoke 
County,  is  now  located.  Captain  William  Preston  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  vanguard,  and  began  the  march  on  "Monday  ye,  9th 
day  of  February,  1756;"  and  in  his  journal  says: 

"In  persuance  to  ye  orders  of  Major  Lewis,  dated  the  9th  inst., 
I  marched  from  Fort  Prince  George,  with  my  two  Lieutenants,  2 
Sergeants,  3  Corporals,  and  25  Privates."  On  Wednesday,  the  11th, 
they  arrived  at  New  River,  at  Ingles'  Ferry,  where  they  found  the 
Indian  allies  in  camp;  and  Captain  Preston  says:  "As  we  marched 
by  the  Cherokee  Camp  we  saluted  them  by  firing  off  guns,  which 
they  returned  in  seeming  great  joy  and  afterwards  honored  us  with 
a  war  dance." 

Major  Lewis  with  the  main  body  of  his  white  force,  arrived  at 
New  River  and  reviewed  all  the  troops  on  Fridaj',  the  13th;  and  on 
Saturday,  the  14th,  Captain  Dunlajj  joined  them  with  a  company 
of  twenty-five  volunteers.  This  completed  the  military  force  that 
was  encamped  at  Fort  Frederick,  which  was  the  name  then  held 
by  the  fort  at  Dunkard's  Bottom.  On  Sunday,  the  15th  inst.,  James 
Burke,  who  had  fled  from  Burke's  Garden,  arrived  at  the  camp  and 
gave  information  that  Robert  Looney  had  been  killed  by  the  Shaw- 
nee Indians  near  the  home  of  Alex  Sawyers,  on  Reed  Creek. 

The  expedition  had  been  organized  to  go  to  Ohio  to  look  for 
the  Shawnees  and  destroy  their  towns;  but  Major  Lewis  and  his 
little  army  were  about  to  come  in  contact  with  small  bands  of  these 
Indians  at  a  point  only  some  sixty  miles  distant  from  Fort  Prince 
George,  the  starting  place,  and  right  in  the  settlements  on  Reed 
Creek.  As  a  matter  of  precaution,  on  Monday,  the  16th,  forty 
Indians  and  sixty  white  men  were  sent  out  to  range  the  woods  about 
Reed  Creek;  and  on  Thursday,  the  19th,  the  army  broke  camp  and 


220  History  of  Tazewell  County 

started  on  its  perilous  and  disastrous  journey.  As  this  was  the  first 
military  expedition  of  white  men  that  entered  and  passed  over  the 
territory  now  embraced  in  Tazewell  County,  it  is  an  event  of  special 
interest  in  connection  with  the  history  of  the  county.  Therefore,  I 
will  reproduce  that  part  of  Captain  Preston's  journal  which  shows 
the  route  pursued  and  what  transpired  while  Lewis  and  his  men 
were  marching  through  this  particular  region.  The  following  are 
the  entries  made  by  Captain  Pi-eston. 

"Thursday  19,  Left  Fort  Fi-ederick  at  10  o'clock:  27  loaded 
pack  horses,  got  to  William  Sawyers:  camped  on  his  barn  floor. 

"Friday  20,  Switched  one  of  the  soldiers  for  swearing,  which 
very  much  incensed  the  Indian  chiefs  then  present.  Advanced  to 
Alex  Sawyers,  met  the  Indians  who  went  out  with  the  first  division, 
and  Lieutenant  Ingles,  who  informed  us  of  the  burial  of  Robert 
Looney.     Some  of  our  Indians  deserted. 

"Sat.  21,  Major  Lewis,  Capt.  Pearis  and  the  interpreter  went  to 
Col.  Buchanan's  place  (Anchor  and  Hope),  where  they  met  the 
Indians  who  had  deserted  us,  and  induced  them  to  return,  which 
they  did. 

"Sunday,  22,  marched  to  John  McFarlands."  (McFarland  lived 
in  Black  Lick  on  the  head  of  Reed  Creek.) 

"Monday,  23,  marched  over  the  mountain  to  Bear  Garden,  on 
North  Fork  of  Holston's  river.     Lost  sundry  horses. 

"Tuesday  24,  Crossed  two  mountains  and  arrived  at  Burkes 
Garden.  Had  plenty  of  potatoes,  which  the  soldiers  gathered  in 
the  deserted  plantations. 

"Wednesday  25,  Remained  in  Camp. 

"Burke's  Garden  is  a  tract  of  land  of  5,000  or  6,000  acres  as 
rich  and  fertile  as  any  I  ever  saw,  as  well  watered  with  many 
beautiful  streams  and  is  surrounded  with  mountains  almost  impas- 
sible. 

"Thursday  26,  Marched  early,  crossed  three  large  mountains, 
arrived  at  head  of  Clinch.     Our  hunters  found  no  game. 

"Friday  27,  Lay  by  on  account  of  rain.  Hunters  killed  three 
or  four  bears. 

"Saturday  28,  passed  several  branches  of  Clinch  and  at  length 
got  to  the  head  of  Sandy  Creek  where  we  met  with  great  trouble  and 
fatigue,  occasioned  by  heavy  rain,  and  driving  our  baggage  horses 
down  said  creek,  which  we  crossed  20  times  that  evening.  Killed 
three  buffaloes  and  some  deer. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  221 

There  were  no  settlers  in  the  territory  whicli  now  constitutes 
Tazewell  County  when  the  Sandy  Expedition  jDassed  tlirough 
Burke's  Garden  and  the  Clinch  Valley.  If  James  Burke  had  formed 
an  intention  to  become  a  permanent  settler,  he  abandoned  such 
intention  when  he  fled  from  the  Indians,  never  to  enter  Burke's 
Garden  again  as  a  resident. 

I  am  at  a  loss  to  understand  what  Captain  William  Preston 
meant  by  the  entry  made  in  his  journal  on  the  24th  of  February, 
175(5,  stating  that  they:  "Had  plenty  of  potatoes  which  the  soldiers 
gathered  in  the  deserted  plantations."  This  entry  would  justify 
the  conclusion  that  there  was  more  cleared  and  cultivated  land  there 
at  that  time  than  tradition  has  placed  to  the  account  of  James  Burke's 
industry.  It  might  also  warrant  the  belief  that  other  persons  had 
been  living  there  besides  Burke.  The  plantations,  however,  men- 
tioned by  Captain  Preston  may  have  been  what  the  first  settlers 
called  "patches." 

Another  very  peculiar  entry  in  the  Preston  journal  is  one  which 
tells  that  when  the  expedition  left  Burke's  Garden  it  crossed  three 
mountains  to  reach  the  head  of  Clinch  River.  If  this  statement  is 
correct,  the  army  did  not  make  its  exit  through  the  gap  at  the  west 
end  of  the  Garden.  In  the  mountain  wliicli  encircles  the  Garden 
there  is  a  low  place  between  the  gap  and  the  Bear  Town  peak. 
Colonel  Lewis  evidently  took  his  men  through  this  low  place  over 
to  Little  Creek,  then  crossed  Rich  Mountain  to  a  point  just  west  of 
the  divide  between  Clear  Fork  and  the  Clinch  Valley.  Not  being 
familiar  with  the  country,  instead  of  turning  westward,  down  the 
valley,  the  expedition  crossed  Buckhorn  Mountain  and  came  into 
the  valley  just  west  of  Dial  Rock.  Thence  the  march  was  con- 
tinued until  the  head  of  "Sandy  Creek"  was  reached. 

Local  historians  have  expressed  different  views  as  to  which 
branch  of  the  stream  was  reached  and  followed.  This,  Tiowever, 
is  unimportant,  as  Tug  River  was  the  main  stream  followed,  and 
received  its  name  from  an  incident  which  occurred  during  the  jour*- 
ney.  At  one  time  the  provisions  were  so  completely  exhausted  that 
the  men  were  threatened  with  starvation.  Johnston,  in  his  History 
of  the  New  River  Settlements,  thus  relates  what  occurred:  "The 
weather  was  extremely  cold,  snow  having  fallen  the  march  was  a 
difficult  one,  and  the  men  stopping  at  Burning  Spring  (Warfield) 
took  strips  of  the  hides  of  the  buffaloes  and  broiled  them  in  the 
burning  gas.  They  cut  them  into  strips  or  thugs,  hence  the  name  of 
Tug   River.      On   leaving  the   spring  they   scattered   through   the 


222  History  of  Tazewell  County 

mountains  and  many  of  them  perished,  either  frozen  to  death., 
starved,  or  killed  by  the  Indians.  They  left,  however,  some  marks 
by  the  way,  cutting  their  names  on  trees  on  the  route  pursued  by 
them,  notably  at  the  forks  of  Big  Coal  and  Clear  Fork  of  that 
river,  but  these  trees  have  been  destroyed  in  recent  years." 

The  remnant  of  the  little  army  was  then  returning  from  its 
unsuccessful  and  disastrous  expedition.  It  did  not  get  as  far  as  the 
mouth  of  Sandy  River,  the  point  where  it  was  expected  to  reach  the 
Ohio.  On  the  12th  of  March  the  men  were  so  discouraged  that  they 
began  to  desert;  and  on  the  13th  Montgomery's  and  Dunlap's  volun- 
teers left  with  a  view  of  getting  back  to  their  homes,  if  they  could. 
It  is  probable  that  it  was  then  that  the  return  march  was  begun. 

Colonel  George  Washington  was  in  command  of  all  the  Virginia 
military  forces  in  1756,  with  his  headquarters  at  Winchester,  as 
previously  related,  and  he  vigorously  opposed  the  Sandy  Expedition. 
He  knew  the  wild  and  rugged  character  of  the  region  through  which 
Lewis  and  his  men  had  to  travel,  and  was  confident  the  enterprise 
would  prove  unsuccessful,  especially  as  it  was  undertaken  in  the 
winter  season.  Governor  Dinwiddie  was  so  provoked  at  the  Shaw- 
nees  for  their  repeated  savage  attacks  upon  the  frontier  settlements 
that  he  insisted  that  the  expedition  should  go  forward,  and  upon 
him  rested  the  responsibility  for  its  failure. 

The  failure  of  the  Sandy  Expedition  was  not  only  a  seriously 
alarming  blow  to  the  English  settlements  west  of  New  River,  but 
was  a  great  incentive  to  the  ShaAsnees  and  the  other  hostile  tribes  in 
Ohio  to  continue  their  savage  attacks  upon  the  border  settlements, 
extending  from  the  Holston  Valley  to  the  Potomac  River.  These 
incursions  of  the  Indians  were  encouraged  and  supported  by  the 
French,  who  were  then  engaged  in  a  general  war  with  Great  Britain, 
and  were  vigorously  prosecuting  the  French  and  Indian  War  against 
the  English  colonies  in  America.  The  French  were  not  only  furnish- 
ing the  Indians  with  arms,  ammunition,  and  other  supplies,  but 
were  paying  them  liberally  for  the  scalps  of  the  English  settlers, 
and  also  for  the  prisoners  they  cajDtured.  These  conditions  con- 
tinued until  the  close  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  in  1761,  and 
the  Pontiac  War  in  1763;  and  resulted  in  driving  out  nearly  all 
the  settlers  who  had  located  west  of  New  River.  Colonel  William 
Preston,  who,  after  the  death  of  his  uncle.  Colonel  James  Patton, 
became  the  guiding  spirit  of  the  Trans-Alleghany  Pioneers,  in  a 
letter  written  from  his  home  at  Greenfield,  in  the  present  Botetourt 


and  Southwest  Virginia  223 

County,  on  the  27th  of  July,  1763,  thus  related  the  unhappy  condi- 
tion of  the  settlements  along  and  west  of  New  River: 

"Our  situation  at  present  is  very  different  from  what  it  was 
when  we  had  the  pleasure  of  your  company  in  this  country.  All 
the  valleys  of  Roanoke  river  and  along  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi 
are  depopulated,  except  Captain  English  (Ingles)  with  a  few 
families  on  New  river,  who  have  built  a  fort,  among  whom  are  Mr. 
Thompson  and  his  family,  alone  remaining.  They  intend  to  make 
a  stand  until  some  assistance  be  sent  them.  Seventy-five  of  the 
Bedford  militia  went  out  in  order  to  pursue  the  enemy,  but  I  hear 
the  officers  and  part  of  the  men  are  gone  home,  and  the  rest  gone 
to  Reed  Creek  to  help  in  the  family  of  James  Davis  and  in  two  or 
three  other  families  there  that  dare  not  venture  to  travel. 

"I  have  built  a  little  fort  in  which  are  eighty-seven  persons, 
twenty  of  whom  bear  arms.  We  are  in  a  pretty  good  posture  of 
defence,  and  with  the  aid  of  God  are  determined  to  make  a  stand. 
In  five  or  six  other  places  in  this  part  of  the  country  they  have 
fallen  into  the  same  method  and  with  the  same  resolution.  How 
long  we  may  keep  them  is  uncertain.  No  enemy  have  appeared  here 
as  yet.  Their  guns  are  frequently  heard  and  their  footing  observed, 
which  makes  us  believe  they  will  pay  us  a  visit.  My  two  sisters  and 
their  families  are  here  and  all  in  good  health.  We  bear  our  misfor- 
tunes so  far  with  fortitude  and  are  in  hopes  of  being  relieved." 


224  History  of  Tazewell  County 

CHAPTER  VI. 

WHY  SETTLEMENTS  DELAYED   IN    CLINCH   VALLEY. 

No  settlers  came  to  the  Clinch  Valley  until  nearly  twenty  years 
after  surveying  parties  had  come  in  and  located  tracts  of  land  here. 
John  Buchanan,  deputy  surveyor  of  Augusta  County,  had  made 
surveys  on  the  waters  of  Clinch  River,  in  1750;  and  Colonel  Patton 
and  William  Ingles  had  surveyed  a  number  of  boundaries  in  Burke's 
Garden,  Abb's  Vallej',  and  on  the  headwaters  of  Clinch  River  in 
1753.  The  inquiry  has  frequently  been  made  why  the  settlements 
were  so  delayed  in  the  Clinch  Valley,  especially  as  a  number  of 
persons  had  located  with  their  families  on  New  River  and  its  tribu- 
taries, and  even  in  the  Holston  Valley,  as  early  as  1750. 

When  Dr.  Thomas  Walker  made  his  famous  expedition  to  Cum- 
berland Gap  in  1750,  he  found  settlers  scattered  along  the  route 
he  pursued  from  the  "Great  Lick,"  the  site  of  Roanoke  City,  to  the 
present  Seven  Mile  Ford,  on  the  Middle  Fork  of  Holston  River. 
These  settlers,  when  they  came  in,  had  followed  the  Buffalo  Trail, 
which  the  Cherokees  had  been  using  for  years  in  making  their  hvmt- 
ing  excursions  that  were  extended  as  far  east  as  the  Great  Lick, 
and  even  to  the  Peaks  of  Otter.  It  was  also  the  same  trail  that  the 
traders  from  Eastern  Virginia  had  traveled  when  they  went  on 
trading  expeditions  to  the  Clierokee  towns  in  Tennessee,  then  North 
Carolina.  The  Clinch  Valley  was  then  used  by  the  Indians,  the 
Cherokees  and  the  Shawnees,  as  a  hunting  ground;  and  had  never 
been  entered  by  wliite  men,  except  a  few  limiting  parties,  who  were, 
possibly,  as  anxious  to  preserve  it  for  a  game  park  as  were  the 
Indians. 

But  for  certain  causes,  which  I  will  mention,  settlements  would 
have  been  made  in  what  is  now  Tazewell  County  immediately  fol- 
lowing the  survej'iiig  of  land  here  by  the  Loyal  Company,  of  wliich 
company.  Dr.  Thomas  Walker  was  the  active  agent.  This  company 
had,  by  an  order  of  the  Virginia  Council,  obtained  leave  to  take  up 
and  survey  800,000  acres  of  land,  in  one  or  more  surveys,  to  be 
located  on  the  north  of  the  North  Carolina  line,  and  running  west- 
ward and  northward  for  quantity ;  and  the  company  was  given  four 
years  to  complete  its  surveys  and  purchase  rights  for  the  same. 
The  company  began  its  work  of  surveying  in  1750,  and  sold  a  num- 
ber of  tracts  west  of  New  River,  to  purchasers  at  the  rate  of  three 


and  Southwest  Virginia  225 

pounds  per  hundred  acres.  Some  of  the  purchasers  settled  on  the 
lands  they  bought,  while  others  failed  to  make  settlements.  The 
Loyal  Company  was  then  interrupted  by  caveats  entered  by  the 
Ohio  Company  and  other  conflicting  claimants,  which  prevented  the 
completion  of  the  surveying  within  the  term  of  four  years  pre- 
scribed by  the  order  of  council.  An  application  was  made  for  a 
renewal  of  the  grant  and  on  the  lith  of  June,  1753,  an  order  was 
made  by  the  council,  giving  the  company  four  years  more  to  conv- 
plete  the  surveys.  By  this  last  order  the  lands  granted  are  described 
as  lands  lying  on  tlie  branches  of  the  Mississippi  in  the  county  of 
Augusta.  The  company  began  as  soon  as  possible  to  locate  and 
sell  lands  under  the  renewed  grant,  but  the  French  and  Indian  War 
then  came  on  in  1754,  and  put  an  end  to  the  surveying.  The 
Indians  commenced  their  hostile  incursions  into  the  settlements  west 
of  the  Alleghanies ;  and  this  not  only  prevented,  for  a  period  of 
nine  years,  the  making  of  any  settlements  in  the  Clinch  Valley, 
but  drove  out  nearly  all  the  settlers  in  the  New  River  and  Holston 
valleys. 

The  Greenbrier  Company,  organized  by  Andrew  Lewis  and 
other  prominent  Virginians,  obtained  a  grant  from  the  Virginia 
Council  for  100,000  acres  of  land,  which  was  to  be  located  west  of 
the  Alleghanies,  and  south  of  the  Ohio.  The  execution  of  the  sur- 
veying of  this  company  had  also  been  hindered  by  the  same  causes 
that  had  affected  the  Loyal  Company.  As  soon  as  the  war  was 
terminated  these  two  companies  presented  a  joint  petition  to  the 
governor  and  council,  representing  that  they  had  made  a  number  of 
actual  surveys  of  lands  within  their  respective  grants  and  made  sales 
of  tracts  to  divers  persons.  The  petition  also  set  forth  the  fact  that 
the  companies  had  been  prevented  from  completing  their  surveys  and 
making  settlements  thereon  only  by  the  war;  and  prajing  the 
renewal  of  their  grants  for  another  four  years. 

In  the  meantime  King  George  11.  had  sent  instructions  to  the 
colonial  government  to  make  no  more  grants  upon  the  western 
waters.  Following  this  instruction,  the  governor  and  council,  on  the 
25th  of  May,  1 763,  declared  that  they  were  restrained  by  the  royal 
instructions  from  granting  the  prayer  of  the  two  companies.  On 
the  7th  of  October,  1763,  the  king  issued  a  proclamation  prohibit- 
ing all  persons  from  settling  in  that  tract  of  country  west  of  the 
Alleghanies,  whicli  included  the  territory  west  of  New  River;  and 
the  proclamation  of  the  king  even  required  those  persons  who  had 
settled  in  this  region  under  patents  to  remove  therefrom  and  take 

T.H.— 15 


226  History  of  Tazewell  County 

up  their  residence  in  the  interior.  This  course  was  adopted  by  the 
royal  government  to  pacify  the  Indians^  who^  after  the  French  and 
Indian  War  was  terminatedj  remained  bitterly  hostile  to  the  Eng- 
lish, because  of  their  manifest  purpose  to  rob  the  natives  of  their 
lands  and  hunting  grounds. 

The  proclamation  of  the  king  not  only  destroyed  every  possible 
hope  that  the  Loyal  Company  could  ever  again  secure  from  the 
royal  government  a  renewal  of  its  grants,  but,  seemingly,  invali- 
dated the  titles  to  all  the  lands  it  had  sold  to  settlers  or  prospec- 
tive settlers.  This  latter  conclusion  was  based  upon  the  conviction 
that  the  Virginia  Council  had  made  a  grant  to  the  Loyal  Company 
of  lands  that  did  not  belong  to  the  English  Ci-own,  but  were  still 
owned  by  the  Indians.  And  the  order  of  the  king  for  the  removal  of 
all  persons  who  had  settled  in  the  forbidden  territory  placed  another 
obstruction  to  the  settlement  of  the  Clinch  Valley  which  lasted  for 
a  period  of  years. 

The  Iroquois,  or  Six  Nations,  of  New  York,  who  had  been  allies 
of  the  British  in  the  war  just  closed,  claimed  by  right  of  conquest 
all  the  Virginia  territory  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  and  south  of  the 
Ohio  River;  and  the  Cherokees,  who  were  also  allies  of  the  British 
in  the  war,  demanded  the  withdrawal  of  all  the  white  settlers  from 
the  territory  west  of  New  River  and  south  of  the  Ohio.  These 
demands  were  recognized  by  the  British  Government  as  just;  but 
gave  great  concern  to  the  Loyal  Company  and  all  persons  to  whom 
the  company  had  sold  lands  west  of  New  River,  either  for  homes 
or  speculative  purposes.  And  the  company  and  its  vendees  went 
earnestly  to  work  to  secure  relief  by  the  negotiation  of  treaties  with 
the  two  Indian  nations.  Quite  a  number  of  would-be  settlers  had 
congregated  in  the  Upper  James  River  Valley  and  the  Roanoke 
Valley,  eagerly  awaiting  opportunity  to  move  beyond  New  River. 
In  response  to  their  appeals,  and  through  the  very  effective  work  of 
Dr.  Walker  and  other  members  of  the  Loyal  Company,  treaties  were 
made  with  the  Indians  by  which  the  section  west  of  New  River  was 
opened  up  for  settlement. 

In  the  spring  of  1768  the  British  Government  instructed  Sir 
William  Johnson,  of  New  York,  to  negotiate  a  treaty  with  the  Six 
Nations,  and  procure  from  them  the  relinquishment  of  their  asserted 
claim  of  certain  territory  in  the  provinces  of  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia.  He  called  a  congress  of  the  chiefs  of 
the  Iroquois  Confederacy,  which  assembled  at  Fort  Stanwix,  near 
Oswego,  New  York,  on  the  24th  of  October,  1768;  and  four  days 


and  Southwest  Virginia  227 

thereafter,  on  the  28th  of  the  same  month,  a  treaty  was  concluded. 
Dr    Thomas  Walker  was  present,  as  commissioner  from  Virgmia, 
and  witnessed  the  signing  of  the  treaty  by  the  six  representative 
chiefs  of  the  Indian  confederacy.     No  doubt  the  skillful  management 
of  the  accomplished  agent  of  the  Loyal  Company  had  much  to  do 
with  securing  the  desired  treaty  with  the  Indians.     The  treaty  con- 
veyed to   King  George  Third,   Sovereign   Lord  of   Great  Britam, 
France  and  Ireland,  all  the  Virginia  territory  claimed  by  the  Iro- 
quois,  south   of   the   Ohio    River,  beginning   at  the   mouth   of   the 
Cherokee   (Holston)   River,  where  it  empties  into  the  River  Ohio, 
and  following  along  the  southern  side  of  said  River  to  Kittanning 
which  is  above  Fort  Pitt.     This  eliminated  for  all  time  the  claim  ot 
ownership  of  Virginia  territory  by  the  Iroquois. 

The  British  Government  had  also  directed  John  Stuart,  Southern 
Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  to  negotiate  a  treaty  with  the 
Cherokees.  He  met  the  chiefs  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Cherokee 
Nations  at  Hard  Labor,  South  Carolina,  and  negotiated  a  treaty 
with  these  Indians  on  the  14th  of  October,  1768,  just  two  weeks 
before  the  treaty  at  Fort  Stanwix  was  concluded.  This  treaty  was 
entirely  unsatisfactory,  as  it  failed  to  secure  the  very  purpose  for 
which  it  was  sought.  It  left  in  the  possession  of  the  Cherokees  all 
the  territory  they  claimed  west  of  New  River,  which  they  had  held 
for  many  years  as  their  most  cherished  hunting  grounds,  the  Clinch 
and  the  Holston  valleys  particularly. 

Dr.  Walker  had  been  appointed  commissioner  from  Virginia  to 
be  present  when  the  treaty  was  made  with  the  Cherokees,  but  did 
not  attend  the  meeting.   No  reasonable  explanation  was  ever  given  by 
John  Stuart  for  the  negotiation  of  a  treaty  whose  terms  were  the 
very  opposite  of  those  sought  and  intended  by  the  government  he 
represented.     Lord  Botetourt  was  then  governor  of  Virginia,  and 
he  was  induced  to  appoint  Colonel  Andrew  Lewis  and  Dr.  Thomas 
Walker  commissioners  to  visit  the  Cherokees  and  procure  from  them 
another  treatv  on  the  desired  lines.     They  proceeded  promptly  to 
South  Carolina,  where  thev  had  conferences  with  some  of  the  Chero- 
kee chiefs,  and  obtained  from  them  a  pledge  that  the  settlers  west 
of  New  River  should  not  be  disturbed  in  the  possession  of  their 
homes,  pending  the  negotiations  for  rearranging  the  boundary  lines 
of  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  tribe.     It  was  also  arranged  by  the 
commissioners  that  a  new  treaty  should  be  made  with  the  Indians. 
John  Stuart,  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  met  the  principle 
chiefs  and  about  a  thousand  of  the  warriors  of  the  Cherokees  at 


228  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Lochaber,  South  Carolina,  on  the  18th  of  October,  1770,  and  on 
October  22nd,  the  treaty  was  concluded. 

This  treaty  seems  to  have  been  of  as  much  moment  to  South 
Carolina  and  North  Carolina  as  it  M'as  to  Virginia,  judging  from  the 
persons  who  attended  the  assembly.  From  a  record  of  the  meeting 
embodied  in  the  treaty  it  appears  those  present  besides  John  Stuart 
were:  Colonel  John  Donelson,  who  was  there  "by  appointment  of 
his  Excellency,  the  Right  Honorable  Lord  Botetourt,  in  behalf  of 
the  Province  of  Virginia,"  Alex'r  Cameron,  Deputy  Superintendent; 
James  Simpson,  Clk  of  his  Majesty's  Council  of  South  Carolina; 
Major  Lacy,  from  Virginia;  Major  Williamson,  Capt.  Cohoon;  John 
Caldwell,  Esq.,  Captain  Winter,  Christopher  Peters,  Esq.,  besides 
a  great  number  of  the  back  inhabitants  of  the  province  of  South 
Carolina;  and  the  following  chiefs  of  the  Cherokee  Nation:  Oconis- 
toto,  Killagusta,  Attacallaculla,  Keyatory,  Tiftoy,  Terreaino, 
Encyod  Tugalo,  Scaliloskie  Chinista,  Chinista  of  Watangali,  Octa- 
citi  of  Hey  Wassie,  and  about  a  thousand  other  Indians  of  the 
same  Nation." 

The  following  are  the  most  important  recitals  in  the  treaty: 
"Tlie  subscribing  Cherokee  Chiefs  and  Warriors  on  behalf  of  their 
said  Nation  in  consideration  of  liis  Majesty's  paternal  goodness,  so 
often  demonstrated  to  them,  the  said  Cherokee  Indians,  and  from 
affection  and  friendship  for  their  Brethren,  the  Inhabitants  of  Vir- 
ginia, as  well  as  their  earnest  desire  of  removing  as  far  as  possible 
all  cause  of  dispute  between  them  and  the  said  inhabitants  on 
account  of  encroachments  on  lands  reserved  by  the  said  Indians  for 
themselves,  and  also  for  a  valuable  consideration  in  various  sorts 
of  goods  paid  to  them  by  the  said  John  Stuart,  on  behalf  of  the 
Dominion  of  Virginia,  that  the  hereafter  recited  line  be  ratified 
and  confirmed,  and  it  is  hereby  ratified  and  confirmed  accordingly: 
and  it  is  by  these  presents  firmly  stipulated  and  agreed  upon  by  the 
parties  aforesaid  that  a  line  beginning  where  the  boundary  line 
between  the  province  of  No.  Carolina  and  the  Cherokee  hunting 
grounds  terminates  and  running  thence  in  a  west  course  to  a  point 
six  miles  east  of  Long  Island  in  Holston's  river  and  thence  to 
said    river    six    miles    above    the    said    Long    Island,    thence    in    a 

course   to   the    confluence   of   the   great    Canaway   and   Ohio 

rivers.  Shall  remain  and  be  deemed  by  all  of  his  Majesty's  white 
subjects  as  well  as  all  the  Indians  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  the 
true  and  just  boundaries  of  the  lands  reserved  by  the  said  Nation 
of  Indians  for  their  own  proper  use,  and  dividing  the  same  from  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  229 

lands  ceded  by  them  to  his  Majestj'^'s  within  the  limits  of  the  pro- 
vince of  Virginia^  and  that  his  jNIajesty's  white  subjects  inhabiting 
the  province  of  Virginia,  shall  not,  upon  any  pretense  whatsoever, 
settle  beyond  the  line,  nor  shall  the  said  Indians  make  any  settle- 
ments or  encroachments  on  the  lands  which  by  this  treaty  they  cede 
and  confirm  to  his  Majesty." 

The  2nd  Article  of  the  treaty  provided  that  there  should  be  no 
alteration  whatsoever  in  the  boundry  line  established  by  the  treaty, 
"except  such  as  may  hereafter  be  found  expedient  and  necessary 
for  the  mutual  interest  of  both  parties." 

By  the  completion  of  this  treaty  with  the  Cherokees  the  titles 
to  the  lands  already  occupied  by  settlers,  or  purchased  for  future 
settlement,  were  quieted,  where  the  purchases  had  been  made  from 
the  Loyal  Company  under  its  grant  for  800,000  acres  or  from 
Colonel  Patton  under  his  grant  for  120,000  acres.  It  also  vacated 
the  proclamation,  issued  by  the  king  in  1763,  forbidding  all  persons 
from  settling  on  the  "western  waters;"  and  it  threw  the  Clinch 
Valley  wide  open,  as  well  as  all  the  territory  ceded  by  the  Cherokees, 
for  settlement.  The  Loyal  Company,  however,  was  denied  the  right 
of  making  further  locations  under  its  grant,  which  had  expired  by 
limitation  in  1763,  and  had  never  been  renewed.  At  this  time  the 
British  Government  and  the  Colonial  Government  of  Virginia  were 
impressed  with  the  wisdom  of  extending  the  frontiers  of  the 
Dominion  as  far  westward  as  possible;  and  earnest  invitation  was 
given  emigrants  to  make  their  homes  on  the  waters  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, in  what  is  now  known  as  Southwest  Virginia.  Very  liberal 
land  laws  were  enacted  and  new  counties  were  erected  as  induce- 
ments to  attract  settlers  west  of  the  Alleghanies  and  beyond  New 
River.  On  the  28th  of  November,  1769,  the  General  Assembly  of 
Virginia  passed  an  act  for  dividing  the  county  of  Augusta  into  two 
counties,  thereby  bringing  the  county  of  Botetourt  into  existence. 
As  the  act  is  almost  contemporary  witli  the  first  settlements  made 
in  Tazewell  County  I  will  quote  from  it  very  liberally,  as  follows: 

"I.  Whereas  many  inconveniences  attend  the  inliabitants  of  the 
county  and  parish  of  Augusta,  by  reason  of  the  great  extent  thereof, 
and  the  said  inhabitants  have  petitioned  this  General  Assembly  that 
the  said  county  and  parish  be  divided: 

"Be  it  therefore  enacted,  by  the  Governor,  Council  and  Burgesses 
of  this  General  Assembly,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  authority 
of  the  same,  That  from  and  after  the  31st  day  of  January  next 


230  History  of  Tazewell  County 

ensuing  the  said  county  and  parish  of  Augusta  be  divided  into  two 
counties  and  parishes  by  a  line  beginning  at  the  Blue  Ridge^  running 
north  fifty-five  degrees  west,  to  the  confluence  of  Mary's  creek,  or 
the  South  river,  with  the  north  branch  of  James  river,  thence  up 
the  same  to  the  mouth  of  Carrs  creek,  thence  up  the  said  creek  to 
the  mountain,  thence  north  fifty-five  degrees  west,  as  far  as  the 
courts  of  the  two  counties  shall  extend  it ;  and  that  all  of  that  part 
of  the  said  county  and  parish  which  lies  on  the  south  side  of  said 
line,  shall  be  one  distinct  county  and  parish,  and  called  and  known 
by  the  name  of  Botetourt ;  and  that  all  the  other  part  thereof,  which 
is  on  the  north  side  of  said  line,  shall  be  one  other  distinct  county 
and  parish  and  retain  the  name  of  Augusta." 

The  act  provided  for  the  payment  of  officers'  fees  in  tobacco  at 
the  rate  of  eight  shillings  and  four  pence  per  hundred  weight  of 
gross  tobacco,  but  the  most  important  and  interesting  features  of  the 
act  to  the  future  settlers  of  the  Clinch  Valley  was  the  following: 

"IX.  And  whereas  the  people  situated  on  the  waters  of  the 
Mississippi,  in  the  said  county  of  Botetourt,  will  be  very  remote 
from  their  court-house,  and  must  necessarily  become  a  separate 
county,  as  soon  as  their  numbers  are  sufficient,  which  will  probably 
happen  in  a  short  time:  Be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  That  the  inhabitants  of  that  part  of  the  said  county  of 
Botetourt,  which  lies  on  the  said  waters,  shall  be  exempted  from 
the  payment  of  levies,  to  be  laid  by  the  said  county  court  for  the 
purpose  of  building  a  county  court-house  and  prison  for  the  said 
county." 

In  Clause  IX.  of  this  act  we  find  an  urgent  appeal  to  brave 
pioneer  spirits  to  push  further  into  the  wilderness,  and  erect  a  bar- 
rier to  furnish  additional  protection  for  the  people  east  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  from  incursions  by  the  hostile  natives.  There  is  also  a  con- 
fident prediction  made  in  the  act  that  the  invitation  would  be 
promptly  responded  to  by  such  numbers  of  persons  seeking  homes 
in  the  Clinch  and  Holston  valleys,  that  "in  a  short  time"  a  new 
county  would  have  to  be  formed. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  231 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   TAZEWELL   PIONEER  SETTLERS. 

No  word  tliat  is  more  expi'essive  than  "Pioneer"  has  ever  been 
written  into  the  English  language.  It  means  not  only  the  first  to 
enter  any  field  of  endeavor,  but  signifies  unusual  achievement  in 
some  worthy  undertaking  by  the  man  or  woman  who  fairly  wins  the 
title.  The  unvarnished  narrative  I  will  write  about  the  daring  men 
and  loyal  women  who  first  came  to  make  homes  for  themselves  and 
their  children  in  the  unbroken  forests  of  this  region,  now  known  as 
Tazewell  County,  will  have  little  merit  if  it  fails  to  help  pi-ocure 
for  these  immortals  a  high  niche  in  the  Temple  of  Fame  that  will 
surely  be  erected  some  day,  somewhere,  to  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  the  Trans-Alleghany  Pioneers.  They  were  of  a  class  entirely 
different  from  the  adventurers  and  outcasts  that  Captain  Newport 
brought  to  Jamestown  in  1607-8-9.  They  had  no  wealthy  corporate 
body,  like  the  London  Company,  to  give  them  supplies  of  food  and 
clothing,  arms  and  ammunition,  and  houses  to  dwell  in,  nor  soldiers 
of  a  royal  government  to  protect  them  from  attacks  by  the  hostile 
natives.  Nor  were  they  of  an  indolent,  vagrant  class,  like  those 
first  settlers  at  Jamestown,  who  were  listed  as  "gentlemen,"  but 
who  died  from  starvation  because  they  were  too  lazy  or  too  proud 
to  work.  They  found  no  fertile  fields  on  the  banks  of  noble  rivers 
and  spcndid  bays,  already  prepared  for  cultivation,  and  which 
they  could  wrest  by  fraud  or  force  from  the  simple,  hospitable 
natives.  But  these  glorious  pioneers  of  the  Clinch  Valley  were  real 
men  and  women,  with  great  hearts,  strong  and  willing  hands,  and 
inspired  with  a  resolute  purpose  to  do  all  they  could,  with  the  means 
they  had,  to  secure  for  themselves  and  their  descendants  the  politi- 
cal and  religious  freedom  that  had  been  denied  them  or  their 
fathers  in  the  "Old  Countries."  In  perseverance,  in  self-command, 
in  forethought,  in  heroism,  in  all  the  virtues  that  conduce  to  success 
in  life,  the  Tazewell  Pioneers  have  never  been  surpassed.  Our 
ancestors  chose  well  when  they  selected  this  beautiful  mountain 
country  for  their  homes  and  for  establishing  a  civic  community  for 
sturdy  men  and  lovely  women.  Nature,  or  rather  Nature's  Almighty 
Creator,  had  profusely  placed  here,  for  the  benefit  of  the  pioneers 
and  their  successors,  the  three  greatest  essentials  for  the  develop- 


232  History  of  Tazewell  County 

ment  and  extension  of  a  refined  civilization — an  invigorating  climate, 
a  fruitful  soil,  and  a  sublime  aspect  of  nature. 

When  writing  about  the  first  settlers,  I  shall  make  no  great 
effort  to  disclose  their  antecedents,  except  for  the  purpose  of  show- 
ing from  whence  they  came.  This  will  be  done  as  briefly  as  possible ; 
and  then  I  will  strive  to  show  what  manner  of  men  and  women  they 
were  by  narrating  what  they  accomplished  after  they  came  to  the 
Clinch  Valley  and  other  sections  of  the  county.  While  doing  this, 
equally  as  much  consideration  shall  be  given  the  first  generation 
born  here,  quite  a  number  of  whom  I  knew;  and  from  whom  I 
learned  much  that  has  Inspired  me  to  execute  the  pleasant  task 
of  writing  this  history.  They  are  truly  worthy  to  be  classed  with 
the  pioneers,  as  manj^  of  them  were  co-workers  with  their  fathers 
and  mothers  in  the  excellent  preparation  that  was  made  for  the 
organization  of  the  civic  community  which  bears  the  name  of  Taze- 
well County. 

A  number  of  men  with  their  families  had  collected  in  the  New 
River  Valley,  and  in  sections  of  Augusta  County  east  of  the  Alle- 
ghany Mountains,  eagerly  awaiting  an  opportunity  to  locate  in  the 
Clinch  Valley.  And  immediately  following  the  assurance  that  they 
could  take  up  lands  unincumbered  by  claims  of  the  Indians  or  the 
Loyal  Company,  the  pioneers  began  to  move  in  and  settle  on  the 
waters  of  the  Clinch.  There  has  been  much  conjecture  and  many 
opinions  expressed  as  to  the  time  of  the  entrance  of  the  pioneers 
into  Tazewell.  Dr.  Geo.  W.  L.  Bickley,  in  his  History  of  Tazewell 
County,  published  in  1852,  places  the  first  permanent  settlement 
here  in  the  spring  of  1771.    Writing  of  this  event,  Bickley  says: 

"1771.)  In  the  spring  of  this  year  Thomas  Witten  and  John 
Greenup  moved  out  and  settled  at  Crab  Orchard,  which  Witten 
purchased  of  Butler.  Absalom  Looney  settled  in  a  beautiful  valley 
now  known  as  Abb's  Valley.  Mathias  Harman  and  his  brothers, 
Jacob  and  Henry,  settled  at  Carr's  place  (on  one  of  the  head 
branches  of  the  Clinch  river,  two  miles  east  of  the  present  town  of 
Jeffersonville).  John  Craven  settled  in  the  Cove,  Joseph  Martin, 
John  Henry  and  James  King  settled  in  Thompson  Valley,  and  John 
Bradshaw  in  the  valley  two  miles  west  of  Jeffersonville.  The  set- 
tlers, this  year,  found  little  annoyance  from  the  Indians,  who  were 
living  peaceably  at  their  homes  in  the  west  and  south.  The  conse- 
quence was  the  settlers  erected  substantial  homes  and  opened  lands 
to  put  in  corn,  from  which  they  reaped  a  plentiful  supply,  in  the  fall. 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


233 


"1772.)  The  following  persons  moved  out,  this  year,  and  set- 
tled at  the  several  places  named.  Capt.  James  Moore  and  John 
Pogue,  in  Abb's  Valley;  William  Wynn,  at  the  Locust  Hill,  (the 
place  that  Carr  settled)  which  he  purchased  from  Harman.  John 
Taylor,  on  the  north  fork  of  Clinch,  and  Jesse  Evans,  near  him. 
Thomas  Maxwell,  Benjamin  Joslin,  James  Ogleton,  Peter  and  Jacob 
Harman,  and  Samuel  Ferguson,  on  Bluestone  creek.  William  But- 
ler, on  the  south  branch  of  the  north  fork  of  Clinch,  a  short  distance 


The  small  white  flag  in  the  centre  of  the  above  picture  is  at  the 
spot  where  Thomas  Witten  built  his  cabin  in  1767  on  the  Crab  Orchard 
tract.    On  the  right  is  the  new  Pisgah  Methodist  Church. 

above  Wynn's  plantation;  William  Webb,  about  three  miles  east  of 
Jeff ersonville ;  Elisha  Clary,  near  Butler;  John  Ridgel,  on  the  clear 
fork  of  Wolf  Creek;  Rees  Bowen,  at  Maiden  Spring;  David  Ward, 
in  the  Cove,  and  William  Garrison  at  the  foot  of  Morris'  Knob. 

"1773.)  Thomas,  John,  and  William  Peery,  settled  where  the 
town  of  Jeffersonville  now  stands;  John  Peery,  Jr.,  at  the  fork  of 
Clinch,  one  mile  and  a  half  east  of  the  county  seat;  Captain  Maffit 
and  Benjamin  Thomas,  settled  about  a  mile  above,  and  Chrisley 
Hensley,  near  them.  Samuel  Marrs  settled  in  Thompson's  Valley; 
Thomas  English  (Ingles)  in  Burke's  Garden;  James  and  Charles 
Scaggs,  Richard  Pemberton,  and  Johnson,  settled  in  Baptist  Valley, 
five  miles  from  where  Jeffersonville  now  stands.  Thomas  Maston, 
William  Patterson,  and  John  Deskins,  settled  in  the  same  valley, 


234  History  of  Tazewell  County 

but   further   west;   Hines,    Richard   Oney    and   Obadiah 

Paine,  settled  in  the  Deskins  Valley,  in  the  western  part  of  the 
county. 

"1774-76.)  The  settlers  who  came  in  during  the  years  of  '74-'6 
and  '6,  generally  pitched  their  tents  near  the  one  or  other  of  the 
locations  already  mentioned.  Even  yet  there  is  a  preference  mani- 
fested for  the  older  settlements.  This  may  be  accounted  for,  from 
the  fact  that  the  first  settlers  generally  chose  the  most  desirable 
locations ;  the  lands  being  now  better  improved,  and  society  more 
advanced,  still  render  these  places  more  attractive  than  other  parts 
of  the  county  settled  at  a  later  period." 

Dr.  Bickley  in  the  preface  of  his  history  very  truly  says:  "Writ- 
ing history  from  tradition  is  a  very  different  thing  from  reducing  to 
order  a  heterogeneous  mass  of  recorded  facts.  While  the  one  is  a 
sure  guide  to  the  historian,  and  from  which  he  cannot  depart;  the 
other  is  full  of  uncertainty  and  apt  to  betray  a  writer  into  error 
and  misrepresentation.  *  *  *  *  The  simple  statement  of  hav- 
ing collected  the  facts,  and  written  the  fpllowing  pages  in  the  short 
space  of  seven  weeks,  will,  I  hope,  be  a  sufBcient  apology  for  its 
many  imperfections." 

In  the  second  chapter  of  his  history,  Bickley  says :  "What  little 
I  have  gleaned  from  the  obscured  pages  of  the  book  of  the  past,  has 
now  become  little  more  than  mere  tradition.  For,  situated  as  I  am, 
in  an  isolated  region,  the  advantages  of  a  public  library  are  denied 
me ;  and  from  a  large  pi-ivate  library  little  is  to  found,  throwing  any 
light  on  this  uncertain  part  of  my  work.  The  information  here  em- 
bodied, was  received  from  the  grandsons,  sons,  and  even  from  the 
men  themselves  who  were  the  principal  actors  in  the  drama  to  be 
recorded.  Memory  cannot  survive  the  decay  of  the  physical  system, 
unimpaired;  and  hence,  caution  is  necessary,  in  recording  an  event 
told  us,  even  by  the  chief  actors  therein.  With  this  fact  before  me, 
I  have  placed  more  reliance  on  an  incident  related  to  me  by  a  son 
of  a  pioneer,  than  if  related  by  the  pioneer  himself." 

After  the  Tazewell  Historical  Society  engaged  my  services  to 
write  a  history  of  the  county,  I  received  a  letter  from  my  friend  and 
kinsman.  Judge  Samuel  Cecil  Graham,  who  was  then  wintering  at 
City  Point,  Fla.,  in  wliich  he  said: 

"Much  of  the  history  of  our  country  has  become  tradition.  So 
were  "The  Tales  of  a  Grandfather"  by  Scott,  but  they  bore  the 
stamp  of  accuracy  and  are  now  history. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  235 

"Truth  as  best  it  can  be  found;  a  judicial  mind  to  solve  conflicts 
and  get  at  what  human  beings  might  have  done — even  if  they  did 
not  do  it — will  at  least  satisfy  conviction  when  the  real  facts  are 
obliterated  or  beclouded.  Fortunately  in  your  undertaking,  you 
know  the  truth  or  can  get  it." 

Tazewell's  first  historian  did  a  wonderful  work,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  he  was  only  occupied  seven  weeks  in  gathering  data  and 
writing  his  interesting  and  valuable  book.  The  statistics,  and  other 
invaluable  data  he  used,  were  furnished  him  largely  by  Dr.  Fielding 
Peery,  who  at  that  time  was,  possibly,  the  most  learned  and  scientific 
man  in  Tazewell  County.  But  for  this  assistance,  Dr.  Bickley  would 
have  been  compelled  to  occupy  as  many  months  as  he  did  weeks  in 
the  execution  of  his  task.  That  he  made  some  mistakes  is  very 
evident ;  and  that  many  valuable  facts  and  interesting  incidents  con- 
nected with  the  early  history  of  the  county  were  overlooked,  or  not 
obtained,  is  certain.  In  his  preface.  Dr.  Bickley  says  he  knew  he 
would  commit  errors.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  he  performed  his 
work  with  so  much  haste,  as  it  is  now  very  difficult  to  supply  his 
omissions.  This,  however,  I  shall  try  to  do  as  effectively  as  I  can. 
He  failed  to  mention  some  of  the  earliest  settlers,  among  them  the 
Thompsons,  the  Cecils,  and  others,  who  were  closely  identified  with 
the  pioneer  settlement  of  the  county.  I  am  satisfied  he  was  mis- 
taken in  the  date  he  gave  of  the  first  permanent  settlements  made 
here — that  is  in  1771  and  1772.  And  he  was  clearly  in  error  when 
fixing  the  date  of  the  first  hunting  party  that  came  to  the  Clinch 
Valley,  that  is  in  1766. 

The  Loyal  Company  was  not  only  disputing  the  claims  of  the 
Indians  to  the  territory  west  of  New  River,  but  Dr.  Walker,  the 
shrewd  and  diligent  agent  of  the  company,  was  actively  at  work  all 
the  while  to  induce  settlements  on  the  numerous  tracts  of  land  he  had 
surveyed  and  sold  to  various  purchasers.  Colonel  John  Buchanan 
and  the  heirs  and  representatives  of  Colonel  James  Patton  were  also 
urging  settlers  to  move  in  and  occupy  the  tracts  that  had  been  sur- 
veyed under  the  grant  of  120,000  acres  to  Colonel  Patton.  The 
Virginians  who,  as  officers  and  soldiers,  had  served  in  the  French 
and  Indian  War  felt  at  liberty  to  make  locations  in  this  section 
under  the  grants  that  had  been  given  them  for  military  service  and 
were  making  locations.  Consequently  settlers  had  been  moving  into 
the  coxmtry,  to  the  Holston  Valley  and  other  localities,  for  several 
years  preceding  1771. 


236 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


In  the  year  1765,  David  Campbell  purchased  from  Colonel  John 
Buchanan  a  tract  of  land  containing  740  acres,  called  "Royal  Oak," 
situated  on  the  Middle  Fork  of  the  Holston  River,  just  east  of  the 
present  town  of  Marion.  This  boundary  of  land  had  been  surveyed 
by  Colonel  Buchanan  in  1748.  In  the  year  1766  Arthur  and  John 
Campbell,  sons  of  David  Campbell,  moved  from  their  homes  in  what 
is  now  Rockbridge  County,  to  the  Holston  Valley.     Arthur  built  his 


The  above  picture  shows  the  house  that  Arthur  Campbell  built  at 
Royal  Oak.  He  surrounded  it  with  a  stockade  and  made  it  a  fort  when 
the  Indians  began  to  attack  the  Holston  settlements. 

house  on  the  tract  his  father  had  purchased  from  Colonel  Buchanan, 
and  turned  his  home  into  a  stockaded  fort  in  1773,  when  trouble 
with  the  Indians  began.  This  was  afterwards  known  as  Campbell's 
or  "Royal  Oak  Fort,"  and  will  be  frequently  mentioned  in  connection 
with  the  Clinch  Valley,  for  reasons  that  will  be  apparent.  Arthur 
Campbell  built  a  mill  near  his  home,  on  the  Middle  Fork  of  Holston 
River  in  1770,  the  first  mill  that  was  erected  on  the  waters  of  the 
Holston.  Fortunately  I  have  a  picture  of  the  old  Campbell  home, 
built  in  1766.  The  house  was,  unfortunately,  torn  down  a  few 
years  ago ;  and  the  jDicture  is  shown  above.  Summers,  in  his  History 
of  Southwest  Virginia,  says : 

"Among  the  settlers   that  came  this   year    (1768)    was   Joseph 


and  Southwest  Virginia  237 

Martin  a  daring  and  enterprising  backwoodsman.  He  was  accom- 
panied by  a  band  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  men,  and  led  them  to 
Powell's  Valley,  now  in  Lee  county,  Virginia,  where  they  erected 
a  fort  upon  the  north  side  of  a  creek,  near  two  fine  springs  of  water, 
which  fort  and  creek  were  thereafter  called  Martin's  Fort  and 
Martin's  Creek.  *  *  *  There  were  some  five  or  six  cabins 
built  about  twenty  feet  apart,  with  strong  stockades  between,  and 
in  the  stockades  there  were  port-holes.  Here  they  cleared  the  land 
and  planted  corn  and  other  vegetables.  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
summer  of  this  year  the  Indians  broke  them  up,  and  the  settlers 
returned  to  the  waters  of  the  Holston.  Martin's  Fort  was  not 
occupied  after  the  Revolutionary  War." 

Reuben  Gold  Thwaites,  in  his  "Documentary  History  of  Dun- 
more's  War,"  says  that  Captain  William  Russell  moved  from  Cul- 
peper  County  to  Clinch  River  in  1770,  if  not  earlier. 

Thomas  Witten,  who  was,  beyond  dispute,  the  first  white  man  to 
bring  his  family  to  Tazewell  County  and  make  permanent  settle- 
ment here,  had  been  living  on  Walker's  Creek,  in  the  present  Giles 
County,  Virginia,  for  a  year  or  more  prior  to  his  settlement  at  the 
Crab  Orchard  on  the  Clinch.  He  had  boldly  disregarded  the  claims 
of  the  Indians  to  the  territory  west  of  New  River,  and  had  defiantly 
ignored  the  royal  proclamation  of  1763,  which  forbade  British  sub- 
jects settling  in  the  disputed  region.  If  his  intended  destination  was 
the  Clinch  Valley,  why  should  he  linger  on  Walker's  Creek  until 
1771?  From  well  authenticated  tradition,  which  I  will  in  a  future 
chapter  set  forth,  he  must  have  settled  in  the  Clinch  Valley  as  early 
as  1767,  as  he  was  living  at  the  Crab  Orchard  when  the  battle 
between  the  Shawnees  and  Cherokees  was  fought  on  the  tojD  of  Rich 
Mountain,  just  west  of  Plum  Creek  Gap,  in  1768. 

Though  it  is  stated  by  Bickley  that  Rees  Bowen  settled  at 
Maiden  Spring  in  1772,  it  is  a  tradition  with  the  Bowen  family  that 
he  located  there  several  years  earlier.  Lyman  C.  Draper,  in  his 
"King's  Mountain  and  Its  Heroes,"  says:  "Rees  Bowen  was  born 
in  Maryland  about  1742.  He  first  emigrated  to  what  is  now  Rock- 
bridge county,  Virginia,  and,  in  1769,  to  the  waters  of  Clinch,  in 
what  is  now  Tazewell  County."  The  question  of  when  the  first 
settlers  came  to  the  Clinch  Valley,  and  also  the  earliest  known  visits 
of  hunting  parties  will  be  discussed  more  fully  in  subsequent  pages 
of  this  volume. 


238  History  of  Tazewell  County 

The  route  used  by  the  pioneers  as  they  journeyed  from  New 
River  to  the  Clinch  Valley  is  well  defined.  It  was  the  same  trail 
that  was  made  by  herds  of  buffalo  as  they  traveled  to  and  from  the 
regions  east  of  the  Alleghanies ;  and  had,  no  doubt,  been  trodden 
many  times  by  hunting  and  war  parties  of  Indians.  Coming  from 
the  east,  the  first  settlers  crossed  New  River  at  a  ford  opposite 
Ripplemead,  a  station  of  the  Norfolk  &  Western  Railway,  about  one 
mile  below  where  Walker's  Creek  empties  into  New  River.  A  ferry 
was  established  just  above  the  ford  by  the  Snidows  in  the  pioneer 
days;  and  the  log  dwelling  of  Colonel  Christian  Snidow,  built  in 
1793,  is  still  standing  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  opposite  Ripple- 
mead. A  splendid  steel  bridge  now  spans  the  stream  at  the  ford 
our  ancestors  used  when  they  crossed  the  river.  From  thence  they 
followed  the  Walker's  Creek  Valley  to  where  the  Kimberling  branch 
of  that  creek  joins  the  main  stream  in  the  present  Bland  County. 
Then  they  followed  Kimberling  Creek  to  its  source,  crossed  over  the 
divide  into  what  has  since  been  known  as  the  "Wilderness,"  and 
through  that  forest  to  Rocky  Gap.  Passing  through  the  Gap  they 
came  up  the  Clear  Fork  of  Wolf  Creek  to  the  divide,  six  miles  east 
of  the  present  town  of  Tazewell;  and  traveling  on  one  mile  came  to 
the  head  spring  of  the  south  fork  of  the  historic  Clinch.  Tradition, 
uniformly,  tells  us  that  this  was  the  route  traveled  by  the  pioneers 
when  they  came  here. 

It  is  a  very  reasonable  supposition  that  most  of  the  first  set- 
tlers came  on  tours  of  inspection  and  investigation  before  they 
moved  their  families  out.  Thomas  Witten  had  been  living  with  his 
large  family  for  a  year,  or  more,  within  fifty  miles  of  the  place 
where  he  ultimately  located;  and  it  is  almost  certain  that  he  and 
his  oldest  sons  made  trips  of  exploration  to  the  Clinch  before  they 
moved  here.  His  selection  of  the  "Crabapple  Orchard"  tract  for 
his  home,  the  choicest  bit  of  land  on  the  Clinch,  that  had  been  sur- 
veyed by  Colonel  John  Buchanan  for  John  Shelton  in  1750,  and 
where  Bickley  says  a  hunter  had  built  a  cabin  and  cleared  a  patch 
for  corn,  is  very  strong  proof  that  Thomas  Witten  knew  precisely 
where  he  was  going  when  he  started  out  from  his  temporary  home  on 
Walker's  Creek.  The  very  judicious  selection  of  land  made  by  the 
other  first  settlers  shows  that  they  had  been  on  the  ground  before, 
or  had  received  reports  from  some  person  pretty  familiar  with  the 
country.  Absalom  Looney  told  James  Moore  of  the  splendid  land  he 
could  find  in  Abb's  Valley,  and  the  route  he  should  follow  to  get 
there;  and  Moore  abandoned  his  home  in  Rockbridge  County,  tTien 


and  Southwest  Virginia  239 

Augusta,  and  took  up  his  residence  where,  a  few  years  later,  he  met 
a  tragic  death  at  the  hands  of  the  Shawnee  Indians. 

It  required  wonderful  fortitude,  j^erseverance  and  physical 
vigor  for  women  and  children  to  make  the  journey  from  the  former 
homes  of  the  emigrants  to  the  Clinch  Valley.  From  New  River  to 
the  points  where  they  located  on  the  Clinch  the  route  was  through 
an  unbroken  wilderness,  and  so  rugged  that  it  was  difficult  to  travel 
on  foot  or  horseback.  Most  of  the  early  settlers  seem  to  have  been 
pretty  well  supplied  with  horses ;  and  it  is  likely  that  the  women  and 
cJiildren  rode  on  horseback,  and  that  the  few  necessary  household 
articles  were  transported  on  pack-horses.  The  men  and  boys  walked, 
with  their  rifles  on  their  shoulders,  ready  for  instant  use  if  an  enemy, 
man  or  beast,  appeared.  It  is  probable  that  some  of  the  settlers 
brought  cows  along  with  their  families,  as  they  knew  of  the  rich 
herbage  that  was  found  in  the  Clinch  Valley.  The  wild  pea  vine 
then  grew  abundantly  in  the  forests ;  and  in  places  where  the  forest 
was  free  from  brush,  and  in  the  open  places  along  the  streams,  the 
native  bluegrass  grew  in  sufficient  abimdance  to  furnish  good  pas- 
turage for  horses  and  kine.  Bickley,  in  writing  of  the  himters  who 
frequented  the  Clinch  Valley  before  the  advent  of  the  j^ioneer  set- 
tlers, and  who  brought  with  them  a  number  of  pack-horses  to  take 
home  their  peltr}^,  says:  "Pasturage  for  their  horses  was  to  be 
found  everywhere ;  and  game  in  such  abundance,  that  plenty  and 
good  cheer  were  their  companions  from  the  time  they  left  their 
homes,  till  their  return." 

Owing  to  the  very  meagre  transportation  facilities  they  pos- 
sessed, each  and  every  family  had  to  exercise  great  care  in  selecting 
the  amount  and  the  character  of  the  baggage  they  brought  with  them 
to  their  backwoods  homes.  The  supply  of  bedding  and  clothing  was 
reduced  to  a  minimum — barely  sufficient  for  protection  from  the  cold 
and  to  keep  their  persons  comfortably  and  decently  clad — these 
articles  being  of  the  plainest  and  most  inexpensive  kind.  A  modern 
housewife  would  be  shocked  and  disgusted  if  she  were  called  upon 
to  begin  housekeeping  with  the  few  and  simple  things  the  pioneer 
mothers  brought  with  them  in  the  way  of  house  and  kitchen  furnish- 
ings. These  consisted  of  iron  kettles,  frying  pans,  pewter  spoons 
and,  maybe,  a  few  pewter  platters,  and  in  some  instances  a  few 
steel  knives  and  forks ;  but  the  tableware  was  mostly  made  of  wood, 
hand-made  and  home-made,  such  things  as  bowls,  trenchers,  platters 
and  noggins.     Crockery  and  chinaware  did  not  make  their  appear- 


240  History  of  Tazewell  County 

ance  on  the  Clinch  until  some  years  after  the  pioneers  had  estab- 
lished their  homes  in  Tazewell. 

The  man  who  was  the  head  of  a  family  had  to  assume  and  exer- 
cise a  triune  personality,  that  of  farmer,  of  mechanic,  and  of  hun- 
ter; and  on  occasion  a  fourth  was  added,  that  of  warrior.  Every 
acre,  yes,  every  foot  of  land  he  wished  to  prepare  for  use  had  to  be 
cleared  of  giant  forest  trees  and  thick  undergrowth.  This  was  done 
with  an  axe,  wielded  by  his  brawney  arms,  and  the  land  was  culti- 
vated by  him  and  his  family  with  hoes  and  such  other  crude  imple- 
ments as  he  could  improvise.  In  the  role  of  mechanic  he  had  to  be 
a  "Jack-of-all-trades",  making  wooden  vessels  for  domestic  use, 
rough  besteads,  cupboards,  tables,  stools,  a  loom,  shoes  and  moc- 
casins from  buckskins  and  other  animal  hides,  sometimes  the  raw 
hide.  His  list  of  tools  was  very  limited- — a  drawing  knife,  broadaxe, 
tomahawk,  a  tool  to  rive  clapboards  to  cover  his  cabin  and  corn- 
crib  and  stable,  and  possibly  an  auger  and  a  handsaw.  With  these 
tools  he  accomplished  wonders  as  a  carpenter.  With  awl,  needle  and 
waxed  thread  he,  or  his  wife,  made  the  moccasins  for  himself  and 
family  from  buckskin  he  had  dressed  in  the  Indian  style. 

As  a  hunter  the  pioneer  settler  had  great  responsibility  upon 
him,  for  his  wife  and  children  were  dependent  upon  his  skill  and 
success  for  their  supply  of  meat,  generally  venison  and  bear's  flesh; 
and  frequently  for  a  substitute  for  bread.  The  grain  would  some- 
times give  out  before  the  new  crop  was  readj^  for  food,  and  the 
breasts  of  pheasants  and  wild  turkeys  were  used  as  substitutes  for 
bread.  The  pioneer  virtuall}'  made  conquest  of  this  great  country 
with  the  backwoodsman's  axe  and  his  trusty  rifle.  Men,  boys, 
women,  and  even  girls  could  and  did  use,  effectively,  when  occasion 
demanded,  these  indispensible  weapons  of  the  pioneer. 

The  pioneers  brought  with  them  good  supplies  of  salt,  but  they 
soon  found  that  this  mineral,  so  essential  to  the  health  and  com- 
fort of  both  man  and  beast,  could  be  made  at  the  Salt  Lick  on  the 
North  Fork  of  the  Holston  River ;  and  from  the  time  they  obtained 
this  knowledge  until  the  Saltworks  was  acquired  by  the  Mathieson 
Alkali  Companj'^,  the  people  of  tlie  Clinch  Valley  got  ample  supplies 
from  that  place.  There  was  another  article  of  food,  now  considered 
a  great  luxury,  that  the  pioneers  did  not  have  to  bring  from  the  east, 
but  could  make  at  home — that  was  sugar.  In  every  valley,  and  in 
the  mountain  hollows,  the  Tazewell  pioneers  found  magnificent 
groves  of  sugar  maple.  Every  settler  had  his  "sugar  orchard" ;  and 
in  the  late  winter  or  early  spring  he  would  tap  his  "sugar  trees" 


and  Southwest  Virginia  241 

and  make  an  abundant  supply  of  sugar  and  "tree  molasses"  for  his 
family  needs  for  the  ensuing  year. 

Seed  corn  was  brought  out  by  the  fathers  and  seeds  of  different 
kinds  of  vegetables— beans,  potatoes,  squash,  turnip,  cabbage  and 
others  seeds- — by  the  provident  mothers,  who  in  those  days  took  most 
interest  in  the  garden  or  "truck  patch."  The  settlers  moved  their 
families  to  their  new  homes  in  the  early  spring  season.  No  doubt 
the  trees  had  been  belted  in  the  winter  time  so  as  to  keep  the  sap 
from  rising  when  spring  came,  and  thus  prevent  the  trees  from 
leafing.  The  clearings  were  made  by  chopping  down  the  large  trees 
about  the  sites  of  the  houses  to  be  erected  and  using  the  logs  for 
the  buildings.  On  the  adjacent  ground  the  large  trees  were  belted, 
the  saplings  cut  down  and  the  brush  grubbed  out;  the  brush  and 
saplings  were  then  burned  or  removed,  and  the  loose  rich  soil  was 
easily  prepared  for  seeding. 

After  the  pioneer  had  planted  his  first  crop  of  com  and  vege- 
tables there  had  to  be  endured  by  him  and  his  family  weeks  and 
months  of  anxious  expectancy  as  to  what  the  harvest  would  be. 
They  had  several  reasons  for  apprehending  that  the  most  important 
crop,  the  corn,  might  be  a  failure.  Bears  and  other  wild  beasts 
might  destroy  or  materially  injure  it;  a  hot  dry  season  might  come 
and  cause  the  blades  to  fire  and  the  shoots  to  parch  and  not  mature ; 
and,  then,  "Jack  Frost"  in  those  days  made  early  visits  and  got  in 
his  work  of  destruction.  The  supplies  of  corn  brought  from  the 
eastern  settlements,  by  early  summer,  were  generally  exhausted, 
and  the  corn  pone,  though  always  a  necessity,  became  a  luxury.  If 
the  season  proved  favorable,  when  the  early  vegetables  came  in  much 
relief "  was  given;  and  when  the  corn  reached  the  "roasting  ear" 
stage  the  event  was  welcomed  with  shouts  of  joy  by  the  children 
and  the  grown-up  folks  alike.  This  condition  of  scarcity,  or  threat- 
ened scarcity,  of  bread  continued  for  several  years  after  the  first 
settlers  arrived,  a  notable  instance  occurring  in  the  Clinch  Valley 
while  Dunmore's  War  was  in  progress,  in  1774. 


The  first  settlers  usually  came  in  groups,  or  located  in  groups 

after  they  arrived ;  and  fixed  their  homes  in  such  immediate  nearness 

as  would  enable  them  to  be  of  service  to  each  other  in  times  of  stress. 

This  established  a  community  of  interest  in  a  social  and  economic 

sense;  and  was  of  the  utmost  importance  as  a  means  of  protection 

against  the  attacks  of  hostile  Indians.     The  home  of  a  settler,  cen- 
T.H. — 16 


242  History  of  Tazewell  County 

trally  l()c?ated,  was  selected  in  each  neighborhood,  where  all  the 
families  in  the  vicinity  could  flee  for  protection  when  the  Indians 
made  hostile  incursions  into  the  country.  At  these  central  points 
forts  were  built,  where  safety  was  assured  all  who  got  there  before 
the  Indians  made  surprise  attacks  on  their  cabin  homes.  The  first 
forts  built  in  the  Upper  Clinch  Valley  were,  Thomas  Witten's  fort 
at  the  Crab  Orchard,  near  Pisgah;  Rees  Bowen's  fort  at  Maiden 
Spring;  and  William  Wynne's  fort,  at  Locust  Hill.     The  latter  was 


The  flag  in  centre  of  picture  shows  where  Thomas  Witten  built  his 
fort  when  the  hostile  Indians  began  to  invade  the  Clinch  Valley  settle- 
ments. ^ 

located  on  the  point  just  west  of  Mr.  George  A.  Martin's  residence, 
one  and  a  half  miles  east  of  Tazewell.  These  three  were  community 
forts  and  were  very  similar  in  form  and  construction.  Indeed  they 
were  like  all  such  places  of  refuge  and  defence  as  were  at  that  time, 
or  afterwards,  erected  on  the  frontiers  of  the  English  colonies. 
Roosevelt,  who  carefully  investigated  all  that  was  written  by  the 
earliest  writers  about  the  old  frontier  forts,  gives  a  description  of 
them  in  his  "Winning  of  the  West."  He  says,  they  were:  "A 
square  palisade  of  upright  logs,  loop-holed,  with  strong  block  houses 
as  bastions  at  the  corners.  One  side  at  least  was  generally  formed 
by  the  back  of  the  cabins  themselves,  all  standing  in  a  row;  and 
there  was  a  great  door  or  gate,  that  could  be  strongly  barred  in  case 
of  need.     Often  no  iron  whatever  was  employed  in  any  of  the  build- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  243 

ings.  The  square  inside  contained  the  provision  sheds  and  fre- 
quently a  strong  central  block  house  as  well.  These  forts^  of  course, 
could  not  stand  against  cannons;  and  they  were  always  in  danger 
when  attacked  with  fire ;  but  save  for  this  risk  of  burning  they  were 
very  effectual  defences  against  men  without  artillery,  and  were 
rarely  taken,  whether  by  whites  or  Indians,  except  by  surprise." 

There  were  no  attacks  made  by  the  Indians  on  the  Witten  or 
Wynne  forts,  and  none  upon  the  fort  at  Maiden  Spring,  although  a 
small  band  of  Shawnees  on  one  occasion,  in  the  absence  of  Rees 
Bowen,  threatened  to  make  an  assault  on  his  fort,  but  were  pre- 
vented from  so  doing  by  a  clever  ruse  practiced  by  Mrs.  Bowen, 
who  was  as  fearless  and  resourceful  as  her  husband.  The  families 
of  each  settlement  went  to  their  community  fort  when  Indian  wars 
came  on,  and  remained  there  until  the  war  was  ended,  or  until  winter 
arrived.  The  Indians  made  no  incursions  in  the  winter  time,  when 
the  forests  were  denuded  of  foilage,  or  snow  might  fall  and  reveal 
their  presence  in  the  settlements. 

.  When  the  first  detachments  of  settlers  came  to  the  Clinch  Valley 
the  Indians  in  Ohio  and  in  Tennessee  were  at  peace  with  the -Vir- 
ginians ;  and  the  relation  continued  friendly  until  Dunmore's  War 
began  in  1774.  This  gave  our  ancestors  several  years  of  opporttmity 
to  build  their  houses  unmolested  and  extend  their  clearings  deeper 
into  the  forests.  It  also  made  effective  the  social  and  economic 
features  of  the  plan  adopted  by  the  settlers  for  grouping  their  homes 
around  and  about  some  central  point.  And  when  the  war  commenced 
there  was  ample  existing  evidence  that  the  Tazewell  pioneers  had 
utilized  the  years  of  peace  very  well,  as  they  were  in  a  condition  to 
not  only  defend  their  own  settlements,  but  to  furnish  substantial 
assistance  in  the  military  campaign  against  the  Shawnees  and  other 
hostile  tribes  in  Ohio.  The  houses  they  built  to  dwell  in  were  notii- 
ing  more  pretentious  than  log  cabins.  Some  had  only  a  single  room, 
while  others  were  double  cabins.  Roosevelt,  in  "Winning  of  the 
West",  gives  a  very  accurate  description  of  the  houses  and  their 
furnishings  that  were  built  and  occupied  by  the  backwoodsmen. 
Mr.  Roosevelt  got  this  description  from  the  celebrated  McAfee  MSS, 
and  its  accuracj'  is  undoubted.     Roosevelt  says: 

"If  he  was  poor  his  cabin  was  made  of  unhewn  logs,  and  held 
but  a  single  room;  if  well-to-do,  the  logs  were  neatly  hewed,  and 
besides  the  large  living  and  eating-room  with  its  huge  stone  fire- 
place, there  was  also  a  small  bedroom  and  a  kitchen,  while  a  ladder 


244 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


led  to  the  loft  above,  in  which  the  boys  slept.  The  floor  was  made 
of  puncheons,  great  slabs  of  wood  hewed  carefully  out,  and  the 
roof  of  clapboards.  Pegs  of  wood  were  thrust  into  the  sides  of 
the  house,  to  serve  instead  of  a  wardrobe;  and  buck  antlers,  thrust 
into  the  joists,  held  the  ever  ready  rifles.  The  table  was  a  great 
clapboard  set  on  four  wooden  legs;  there  were  three-legged  stools, 
and  in  the  better  sort  of  houses  old-fashioned  rocking  chairs.  The 
couch  or  bed  was  warmly  covered  with  blankets,  bear-skins  and  deer- 
hides." 


ShoMTi  above  is  the  oldest  standing  house  in  Tazewell  County.  It 
was  built  during  the  Revolution  by  John  Witten,  eldest  son  of  Thomas 
Witten,  and  stands  in  the  yard  of  John  C.  St.  Clair,  four  miles  west  of 
the  town  of  Tazewell,  and  is  an  excellent  type  of  the  pioneer  cabin. 

All  tlie  early  settlers  knew  that  in  the  making  of  their  new 
homes  self-lielp  must  be  their  chief  reliance;  but  they  also  realized 
that  what  they,  i^i  families,  would  do  could  be  greatly  added  to  by 
the  families  of  a  community  helping  each  other.  From  this  idea  of 
community  interest  excellent  results  came ;  and  from  it  originated 
the  old-time  log-rollings,  house-raisings,  house-warmings,  corn- 
shuckings,  quiltings  and  sugar-stirrings.  All  these  were  affairs  of 
utility  and  were  made  joyous  festive  occasions.  They  served  to 
unite  the  pioneers  of  the  Clinch  Valley  in  th^  strong  bonds  of  neigh- 
borly kindness  and  fellowship,  engendering  a  spirit  which  was  trans- 
mitted in  such  njeasure  to  their  descendants  as  to  make  the  hospi- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  245 

tality,  clanship,  and  fidelity  of  the  sons  of  Tazewell  proverbial.  On 
such  occasions  the  men,  women  and  children  of  some  particular 
neighborhood  would  assemble  and  do  more  useful  work  for  a  single 
family  in  a  day  than  such  a  family  could  accomplish  unassisted  in 
several  weeks,  or  possibly  months.  These  gathei-ings  were  made 
delightful  social  and  festive  affairs.  The  mothers  and  daughters, 
who  were  the  hostesses,  would  be  happily  assisted  by  the  mothers 
and  girls  of  the  neighborhood  in  preparing  a  bounteous  repast  for 
the  men  who  were  engaged  in  the  log-rolling,  or  the  house-raising,  or 
whatever  work  was  being  done. 

At  meal  time  the  tables  would  fairly  groan  beneath  the  abund- 
ance of  meats,  of  such  variety  that  they  would  make  a  modern 
gourmand  chuckle  with  delight,  if  he  could  have  a  chance  to  par- 
take of  similar  viands.  There  would  be  bear  and  venison  steaks 
and  roasts,  wild  turkeys,  pheasants,  and  other  small  game,  prepared 
in  a  homely  way,  but  deliciously  fragrant  and  appetizing.  For 
bread  they  had  the  wonderful  "Johnny  Cake"  and  the  corn  pone, 
the  making  of  which  is  now  a  lost  art,  the  one  baked  on  a  clean 
board  before  a  blazing  log  fire,  the  other  baked  in  an  iron  oven  on 
the  stone  hearth.  They  had  no  tea  or  coffee  on  the  frontier  in  those 
days,  but  in  most  instances  had  plenty  of  rich  milk,  given  by  cows 
that  grazed  on  the  pea  vine  and  blue  grass ;  and  plenty  of  sparkling 
water  that  gushed  from  the  springs  that  were  found  near  every  cabin 
home;  and  these  were  served  to  the  hearty  log-rollers  and  house- 
raisers  by  the  wives  and  their  rosy-cheeked  daughters.  Nor  had 
they  any  desserts  at  their  feasts,  worth  mentioning,  as  wheat  and 
flour  had  not  yet  been  introduced;  for  there  were  no  mills  in  the 
region  but  small  hand  mills  that  were  used  for  grinding  the  corn. 
Few  persons  now  living  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  eat  meats  and 
other  foods  similar  to  those  of  which  the  first  settlers  had  an  abund- 
ance, prepared  as  the  pioneer  women  cooked  them.  The  author  in 
his  boyhood  days  sometimes  ate  vension  steaks,  the  Johhny  Cake, 
and  the  corn  pone  prepared  by  the  old-time  cooks  that  had  been 
trained  by  the  pioneer  mothers  or  their  daughters.  Nothing  in 
modern  cookery  is  half  as  delicious  to  me  as  those  things  that  were 
prepared  by  "Aunt  Trecy,"  the  negro  cook  that  was  trained  by  my 
grandmother  Cecil. 

At  the  log-rollings,  house-raisings  and  corn-shuckings  it  was  the 
custom  of  the  men  to  divide  into  "sides"  to  see  which  division  could 
accomplish  the  most  work  in  a  given  time,  or  for  the  day — each  side 
having  a  captain  to  direct  its  movements.     This  caused  the  work  to 


246  History  of  Tazewell  County 

progress  more  rapidly,  as  each  side  put  forth  its  full  strength  to  be 
first  in  the  contest.  At  the  quiltings  the  women  would  frequently 
divide  into  parties  and  work  from  opposite  sides  to  see  which  would 
first  reach  the  centre  of  the  quilt.  I  attended  several  corn-shuckings 
when  I  was  a  boy,  and  greatly  enj  oyed  witnessing  the  j  oily  shuckers 
work  and  hearing  them  sing.  These  shuckings  were  held  at  night, 
and  a  bountiful  supjDer  was  always  spread  and  eaten  after  the  work 
was  completed.  And  when  I  was  a  little  fellow  my  mother  fre- 
quently took  me  to  quilting  parties  given  by  her  neighbors;  and  she 
had  many  quilting  parties  herself,  that  I  remember.  I  always 
enjoyed  the  good  dinners  and  took  childish  interest  in  the  innocent 
gossip  of  the  ladies. 

A  description  of  the  apparel  of  the  pioneer  men  and  women 
has  been  given  by  Theodore  Roosevelt  in  his  "Winning  of  the  West" 
and  also  by  Dr.  Bickley  in  his  History  of  Tazewell  County.  Their 
accounts  are  strikingly  similar,  and  were  procured  from  early 
writers,  who  were  familiar  with  fi'ontier  life.  Roosevelt  says:  "The 
backwoodsman's  dress  was  in  great  part  borrowed  from  his  Indian 
foes.  He  wore  a  fur  cap  or  felt  hat,  moccasins,  and  either  loose, 
thin  trousers,  or  else  simple  leggings  of  buckskin  or  elk-hide,  and  the 
Indian  breech-clout.  He  was  always  clad  in  the  fringed  hunting- 
shirt,  of  homespun  or  buckskin,  the  most  picturesque  and  distinc- 
tively national  dress  ever  worn  in  America.  It  was  a  loose  smock  or 
tunic,  reaching  nearly  to  the  knees,  and  held  in  at  the  waist  by  a 
broad  belt,  from  which  hung  the  tomahawk  and  scalping-knife. 
His  weapon  was  the  long  small-bore,  flint-lock  rifle,  clumsy,  and 
ill-balanced,  but  exceedingly  accurate.  It  was  very  heavy,  and 
when  upright  reached  to  the  chin  of  a  tall  man;  for  the  barrel  of 
thick,  soft  iron,  was  four  feet  in  length,  while  the  stock  was  short 
and  the  butt  scooped  out.  Sometimes  it  was  plain,  sometimes  orna- 
mented. It  was  generally  bored  out — or,  as  the  expression  then  was, 
'sawed-out' — to  carry  a  ball  of  seventy,  more  rarely  of  thirty  or 
forty,  to  tlie  pound;  and  was  usually  of  backwoods  manufacture. 
The  marksman  almost  always  fired  from  a  rest,  and  rarely  at  a  very 
long  range;  and  the  shooting  was  marvelously  accurate." 

The  gun  described  by  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  one  of  Daniel 
Boone's  rifles,  which,  according  to  an  inscription  on  the  barrel,  was 
made  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  in  1782,  by  M.  Humble.  Prior  to 
the  Civil  War  (1861-65)  a  number  of  rifles  of  similar  pattern  could 
be  found  in  Tazewell  County,  and  there  are  some  still  here. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  247 

Garbed  in  hunting  shirts,  with  tomahawk  and  scalping  knives 
sheathed  in  their  belts,  and  armed  with  rifles  like  Boone's,  a  number 
of  the  pioneers  from  the  Clinch,  under  command  of  Captain  Russell, 
were  witli  General  Andrew  Lewis  at  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant : 
and  the  gallant  Lieutenant  Rees  Bowen,  with  his  company  of  sterl- 
ing patriots  similarly  garbed  and  equipped,  marched  with  Campbell 
to  King's  Mountain,  and  in  the  battle  there  placed  Tazewell's  name 
on  the  scroll  of  fame. 

In  the  days  of  the  American  Revolution  the  rifles  of  the  men 
from  the  mountain  frontiers  made  the  American  guns  famous.  Gen- 
eral Howe,  a  British  general,  called  them  "the  terrible  guns  of  the 
rebels."  A  recent  supposed  authority  on  gims  and  projectiles  has 
written:  "In  the  colonial  days  the  residents  of  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board were  the  greatest  users  of  guns  of  their  period,  and  gun- 
maker's  shops  were  in  every  city  and  town.  With  little  knowledge 
of  ballistics,  these  men  perfected  the  American  rifle  that  was  a  factor 
of  great  moment  in  the  revolution  when  wielded  by  the  sharp-shoot- 
ing keen-eyed  men  of  the  colonies." 

The  guns  that  were  made  and  used  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
about  the  time  of  the  Revolution  were  principally  of  the  smooth-bore 
style,  while  the  guns  used  by  the  men  of  the  mountain  sections  were 
universally  rifles  after  the  Boone  type;  and  Roosevelt  says  this 
kind  of  gun  "was  usually  of  backwoods  manufacture".  It  was 
perfected  hj  the  gunmakers  of  the  mountains  and  not  in  the  gun- 
maker's  shops  in  the  seaboard  towns.  Rifles  made  in  the  mountains 
of  Virginia,  in  the  hands  of  Daniel  Morgan's  riflemen  won  the  battle 
at  Saratoga  and  at  the  Cow  Pens,  and  caused  General  Howe  to 
speak  of  "the  terrible  guns  of  the  rebels."  The  Mountain  riflemen 
from  the  Clinch  and  Holston  valleys,  with  their  trusty  mountain 
rifles,  under  the  command  of  the  mountain  general,  William  Camp- 
bell, won  the  battle  at  King's  Mountain  and  turned  the  scale  for  the 
colonies  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 

The  dress  of  the  pioneer  women  was  limited  in  the  kind  of  gar- 
ments used  and  was  of  the  coarsest  and  cheapest  quality.  Roosevelt 
says  the  outfit  of  a  well-to-do  bride  was  "not  very  elaborate,  for 
a  woman's  dress  consisted  of  a  hat  or  poke  bonnet,  a  'bedgown', 
perhaps  a  jacket,  and  a  linsey  petticoat,  while  her  feet  were  thrust 
into  coarse  shoepacks  or  moccasins".  Bickley  in  his  chapter  on 
"Manners  and  Customs"  of  the  first  settlers,  quoting  from  Dr.  Dod- 
dridge, says:  "Linsey  coats  and  bedgowns  were  the  universal  dress 
of  the  women  in  the  early  times."     Dr.  Bickley  thinks  this  was  an 


248  History  of  Tazewell  County 

excellent  description  of  the  dress  of  the  women  who  first  came  to  the 
Clinch  Valley;  and  he  follows  this  adoption  of  the  Doddridge 
description  with  the  following  statement  as  to  the  resourcefulness 
and  industry  of  the  pioneer  women: 

"The  garments  made  in  Augusta,  Botetourt  and  other  older  set- 
tlements, had  worn  out,  and  a  different  material  was  brought  into 
use.  The  weed  now  known  among  us  as  wild  nettle  (JJrtica  dioica), 
then  furnished  the  material  which  served  to  clothe  the  persons  of 
our  sires  and  dames.  It  was  cut  down  while  yet  green,  and  treated 
much  in  the  same  manner  in  which  flax  is  now  treated.  The  fibrous 
bark,  with  the  exception  of  the  shortness  of  the  fibers,  seemed  to  be 
adapted  to  the  same  uses.  When  this  flax,  if  I  may  so  term  it,  was 
prepared,  it  was  mixed  with  buffalo  hair  and  woven  into  a  substan- 
tial cloth,  in  which  men  and  women  were  clothed.  It  is  a  true  maxim 
'necessitv  is  the  mother  of  invention.'  " 


In  the  introductory  paragraphs  of  his  chapter  on  the  "Manners 
and  Customs"  of  the  pioneers.  Dr.  Bickley  made  an  apology  for  the 
crude  state  of  society  that  prevailed  among  the  first  settlers.  This 
apology  was  unnecessary,  and  was  based  upon  what  I  believe  was  a 
false  interpretation  of  the  customs  and  habits  of  our  pioneer  ances- 
tors.    Tazewell's  first  historian  saj's : 

"I  must  ask  such  sons  and  daughters  of  the  noble  people  whose 
habits  form  a  theme  of  my  pen,  who  are  either  vain  or  proud,  to 
forgive  me  for  exhibiting  their  fathers  and  mothers,  in  such  a  light 
as  I  necessarily  must.  I,  too,  am  of  these  people,  and  hope  I  am 
as  sensitive  of  my  ancestors  as  the  vainest  or  the  proudest. 

"The  people  of  all  mountain  countries  have  some  customs  pecu- 
liarly their  own.  The  same  pastoral  simplicity  which  characterizes 
the  people  of  the  Scotch  highlands,  the  mountainous  regions  of 
Europe,  and  the  hill  country  of  ancient  Judea,  may  be  clearly  traced. 
The  same  industry',  love  for  stock,  determination  to  be  free,  hatred 
of  oppression,  pure  sentiment,  etc.,  are  found  here." 

Following  this  apology,  Bickley  quotes  from  Doddridge's  "Set- 
tlements and  Indian  Wars"  a  lengthy  description  of  a  wedding  in 
the  pioneer  days,  of  which  he  declares  "a  more  faithful  picture  could 
not  be  drawn."  Though  it  does  not  justify  an  apology  for  the  sup- 
posed unrefined  customs  of  our  pioneer  ancestors,  it  is  the  only 
description  of  a  frontier  wedding  written  by  an  eye  witness ;  and  I 
will  reproduce  it.     Doddridge  says: 


and  Southwest  Virginia  249 

"For  a  long  time  after  the  first  settlement  of  this  country  the 
inhabitants  in  general  married  young.  There  was  no  distinction  of 
rank,  and  very  little  of  fortune.  On  these  accounts,  the  first  impres-- 
sion  of  love  resulted  in  marriage,  and  a  family  establishment  cost 
but  little  labor,  and  nothing  else.  A  description  of  a  wedding  from 
beginning  to  end  will  serve  to  show  the  manners  of  our  forefathers, 
and  mark  the  grade  of  civilization  which  has  succeeded  to  their  rude 
state  of  society  in  the  course  of  a  few  years. 

"In  the  first  years  of  the  settlement  of  a  country,  a  wedding 
engaged  the  attention  of  the  whole  neighborhood ;  and  the  frolic  was 
anticipated  by  old  and  young,  with  eager  expectation.  This  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at,  when  it  is  told  that  a  wedding  was  almost  the 
only  gathering  which  was  not  accompanied  with  the  labor  of  reap- 
ing, log-rolling,  building  a  cabin,  or  planning  some  scout  or  cam- 
paign. On  the  morning  of  the  wedding-day,  the  groom  and  his 
attendants  assembled  at  the  house  of  his  father,  for  the  purpose  of 
reaching  his  bride  by  noon,  which  was  the  usual  time  for  celebrating 
the  nuptials ;  and  which,  for  certain  reasons,  must  take  place  before 
dinner. 

"Let  the  reader  imagine  an  assemblage,  without  a  store,  tailor, 
or  mantua-maker,  within  a  hundred  miles ;  an  assemblage  of  horses, 
without  a  blacksmith  or  saddler  within  an  equal  distance.  The 
gentlemen  dressed  in  shoepacks,  moccasins,  leather  breeches,  leg- 
gings, linsey  hunting  shirts,  and  all  home-made.  The  ladies  dressed 
in  linsey  petticoats,  and  linsey  or  linen  bedgowns,  coarse  shoes, 
stockings,  handkerchiefs,  and  buckskin  gloves,  if  any.  If  there 
were  any  buckles,  rings,  buttons  or  ruffles,  they  were  the  relics  of 
olden  times ;  family  pieces  from  parents  or  grandparents.  The 
horses  were  caparisoned  with  old  saddles,  old  bridles  or  halters, 
and  pack-saddles,  with  a  bag  or  a  blanket  thrown  over  them ;  a  rope 
or  a  string  as  often  constituted  the  girth  as  a  piece  of  leather. 

"The  march  in  double  file  was  often  interrupted  by  the  narrow- 
ness of  our  mountain  paths,  as  they  were  called,  for  we  had  no 
roads ;  and  these  difficulties  were  often  increased,  sometimes  by  the 
good,  and  sometimes  by  the  ill-will  of  the  neighbors,  by  falling 
trees,  and  tying  grape-vines  across  the  way.  Sometimes  an  ambus- 
cade was  formed  by  the  wayside,  and  an  unexpected  discharge  of 
several  guns  took  place,  so  as  to  cover  the  wedding  company  with 
smoke.  Let  the  reader  imagine  the  scene  which  followed  this  dis- 
charge; the  sudden  spring  of  the  horses,  the  shrieks  of  the  girls, 


250  History  of  Tazewell  County 

and  the  chivalrous  bustle  of  their  partners  to  save  them  from  fall- 
ing. Sometimes^  in  spite  of  all  that  could  be  done  to  prevent  it, 
some  were  thrown  to  the  ground.  If  a  wrist,  elbow,  or  ankle  hap- 
pended  to  be  sprained,  it  was  tied  up  with  a  handkerchief,  and  little 
more  was  said  or  thought  about  it. 

"The  ceremony  of  the  marriage  preceded  the  dinner,  which  was 
a  substantial  backwoods'  feast  of  beef,  pork,  fowls,  and  sometimes 
venison  and  bear  meat,  roasted  and  boiled,  with  plenty  of  potatoes, 
cabbage  and  other  vegetables.  During  the  dinner,  the  greatest 
hilarity  always  prevailed ;  although  tlie  table  might  be  a  large  slab 
of  timber,  hewed  out  with  the  broadaxe,  supported  by  four  sticks, 
set  in  auger  holes ;  and  the  furniture,  some  old  pewter  dishes  and 
plates ;  the  rest,  wooden  bowls  and  trenchers :  a  few  pewter  spoons, 
much  batterjed  about  the  edges,  were  to  be  seen  at  some  tables.  The 
rest  were  made  of  horn.  If  knives  were  scarce,  the  deficiency  was 
made  up  by  the  scalping  knives,  which  wei'e  carried  in  sheaths,  sus- 
pended to  the  belt  of  the  hunting-shirt,  every  man  carried  one  of 
them. 

"After  dinner  the  dancing  commenced,  and  generally  lasted  vmtil 
the  next  morning.  The  figures  of  the  dances  were  three  and  four 
handed  reels,  or  square  sets  and  jigs.  The  commencement  was  always 
a  square  form,  which  was  followed  by  what  was  called  jigging  it  off; 
that  is,  two  of  the  four  would  single  out  for  a  jig,  and  were  fol- 
lowed by  the  remaining  couples.  The  jigs  were  often  accompanied 
with  what  was  called  cutting  out;  that  is,  when  either  of  the  parties 
became  tired  of  the  dance,  on  intimation,  the  place  was  supplied  by 
some  one  of  the  company,  without  any  interruption  to  the  dance.  In 
this  way  the  dance  was  continued  until  the  musician  was  heartily 
tired  of  his  situation.  Toward  the  latter  part  of  the  night,  if  any 
of  the  company,  through  weariness,  attempted  to  conceal  themselves 
for  the  purpose  of  sleeping,  they  were  hunted  up,  paraded  on  the 
floor,  and  the  fiddler  ordered  to  play  'hang  out  till  to-morrow 
morning.' 

"About  nine  or  ten  o'clock  a  deputation  of  young  ladies  stole  off 
the  bride,  and  put  her  to  bed.  In  doing  this,  it  frequently  happened 
that  they  had  to  ascend  a  ladder,  instead  of  a  pair  of  stairs,  leading 
from  the  dining  room  and  ball  room  to  the  loft,  the  floor  of  which  was 
made  of  clap-boards,  lying  loose.  This  ascent,  one  might  think, 
would  put  the  bride  and  her  attendants  to  the  blush;  but  the  foot 
of  the  ladder  was  commonly  behind  the  door,  which  was  purposely 
opened  for  the  occasion,  and  its   rounds,  at  the  inner  ends,  were 


and  Southwest  Virginia  251 

well  hung  with  hunting-shirts^  dresses  and  other  articles  of  clothing. 
The  candles^  being  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  house,  the  exit  of  the 
Bride  was  noticed  by  but  few. 

"This  done,  a  deputation  of  young  men,  in  like  manner,  stole  oif 
the  groom,  and  placed  him  snugly  by  the  side  of  his  bride.  The 
dance  still  continued;  and  if  seats  happened  to  be  scarce,  as  was 
often  the  case,  every  young  man,  when  not  engaged  in  the  dance, 
was  obliged  to  offer  his  lap  as  a  seat  for  one  of  the  girls;  and  the 
offer  was  sure  to  be  accepted.  In  the  midst  of  this  hilarity,  the 
bride  and  groom  were  not  forgotten.  Pretty  late  in  the  night,  some 
one  would  remind  the  company  that  the  new  couple  must  stand  in 
need  of  some  refreshment;  black  Betty,  which  was  the  name  of  the 
bottle,  was  called  for  and  sent  up  the  ladder;  but  sometimes  black 
Betty  did  not  go  alone.  I  have  many  times  seen  as  much  bread,  beef, 
pork  and  cabbage  sent  along,  as  would  afford  a  good  meal  for  half 
a  dozen  hungry  men.  The  young  couple  were  compelled  to  eat  and 
drink,  more  or  less  of  whatever  was  offered. 

"But  to  return.  It  often  happened  that  some  neighbors  or  rela- 
tives, not  being  asked  to  the  wedding,  took  offense ;  and  the  mode  of 
revenge,  adopted  by  them  on  such  occasions,  was  that  of  cutting  off 
the  manes,  foretops,  and  tails  of  the  horses  of  the  wedding  company. 

"On  returning  to  the  in-fare,  the  order  of  procession,  and  the 
race  for  black  Bettj',  was  the  same  as  before.  The  feasting  and 
dancing  often  lasted  several  days,  at  the  end  of  which,  the  whole 
company  were  so  exhausted  with  loss  of  sleep,  that  many  days'  rest 
were  requisite  to  fit  tliem  to  return  to  their  ordinary  labors." 

Bickley  makes  further  explanation  and  apology  for  adopting  the 
Doddridge  wedding  story  by  saying:  "I  have  quoted  this  account, 
written  by  Dr.  Doddridge,  because  nothing  could  be  more  correct, 
and  it  was  beyond  my  power  to  tell  an  original  tale  so  well." 

Dr.  Doddridge's  description  is,  no  doubt,  highly  colored,  as  the 
border  annalists  were  as  prone  to  indulge  in  hyperbole  as  the  most 
brilliant  modem  war  correspondent.  The  kind  of  weddings  the 
author  of  "Settlements  and  Indian  Wars"  describes  did  sometimes 
occur  in  the  backwoods;  but  they  were  exceptional,  and  should  not 
have  been  adopted  as  a  type  for  illustrating  the  maimers  and  habits 
of  our  forefathers  and  foremothers.  Occasional  weddings  of  the 
Doddridge  kind  may  have  taken  place  in  the  Clinch  Valley  in  the 
early  days  after  its  settlement;  but  I  doubt  if  any  such  occurred  in 
the  families  of  the  pioneers.     The  first  settlers  on  the  Clinch  were 


252  History  of  Tazewell  County 

dignified,  sober-minded  men  and  women,  intent  upon  accomplishing 
a  great  work,  that  of  erecting  happy  and  useful  homes.  They  were 
descended  from  ancestors  who  sought  asylum  in  America  to  escape 
religious  and  political  persecutions,  and  their  children,  the  first 
generation  born  in  Tazewell,  were  as  dignified  and  refined  as  any 
persons  now  in  the  land.  I  knew  quite  a  number  of  them  in  my 
childhood  and  boyhood,  and  speak  from  actual  knowledge. 

The  sons  and  daughters  of  the  pioneers  married  while  they  were 
very  young,  frequently  before  the  boys  were  twenty-one,  and  when 
the  girls  were  in  their  early  teens.  They  inlierited  and  possessed 
but  little  of  the  world's  goods  to  begin  their  married  life  with. 
The  groom  would  have  a  horse,  an  axe,  and  his  rifle,  the  latter  was 
given  each  boy  when  he  became  twelve  years  old;  and  in  case  of  an 
invasion  by  the  Indians  he  was  expected  to,  and  did,  fill  a  man's 
place  at  a  loophole.  And  the  bride,  if  she  had  been  industrious  and 
helpful,  and  her  parents  were  thrifty,  would  have  for  her  dowry 
a  brood-mare,  a  cow,  a  bed  well  furnished  with  blankets,  quilts  and 
woolen  coverlets — the  latter  woven  by  herself  or  her  mother — and 
a  chest  for  her  clothes.  These  chests  took  the  place  of  trunks,  as 
there  were  no  trunks  in  those  days.  They  were  always  made  from 
cedar  or  black  walnut,  were  neat  in  appearance,  and  were  capacious 
and  useful.  My  mother  had  one,  which  was  given  her  by  her 
parents,  and  it  is  still  an  heirloom  in  the  family. 

There  was,  however,  an  abundance  of  fertile  land  still  unoc- 
cupied and  unclaimed,  from  which  the  3'Oung  married  man  could 
select  four  hundred  acres,  and  acquire  title  thereto  under  the  liberal 
settler's  laws  then  existing  in  Virginia.  After  he  had  selected,  and 
possibly  marked  out  with  his  tomahawk,  the  boundary  he  wished  to 
occupy,  he  and  his  bride  would  choose  a  location  for  their  future 
residence.  Then  the  community  custom  and  feeling,  that  had  been 
happily  planted  in  the  beginning  of  the  settlement,  would  assert 
itself  in  most  generous  form.  All  the  men  of  the  neighborhood 
would  assemble  where  the  new  house  was  to  be  built ;  and  they 
would  chop  the  logs  and  roll  them  to  the  proposed  site  of  the  build- 
ing, with  their  broadaxes  they  would  hew  and  notch  the  logs,  and 
raise  the  house  for  the  young  housekeepers.  As  soon  as  the  chimney 
was  built  and  the  roof  of  clapboards  was  placed,  the  festal  joys  of 
a  house-warming,  with  all  the  social  foniis  of  the  wedding,  were 
extended  by  the  young  housekeepers  to  their  kindred  and  neighbors. 
Thus  were  the  homes  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  pioneers 
established  and  the  community  made   stronger   and  better  by  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  253 

addition  of  other  families.  Race  suicide  was  then  an  unheard  of 
thing  in  this  glorious  mountain  country;  and  the  Biblical  injunction, 
"multijDly  and  replenish  the  earth"  had  not  become  obsolete.  The 
man  cheerfully  assumed  his  duties  of  armed  protector  of  his  wife 
and  cliildren  and  provider  for  the  family,  and  the  woman,  as  house- 
wife and  child-bearer,  with  smiling  contentment,  carried  her  many 
cares  and  burdens. 

In  some  respects  it  was  a  lonely  and  monotonous,  as  well  as 
dangerous,  life  our  ancestors  led  when  they  first  moved  into  this 
wild,  uninhabited  region;  but  there  were  many  things  to  stimulate 
and  interest  those  who  were  brave,  intelligent  and  industrious. 
They  were  constantly  experiencing  thrills  that  came  from  contacts 
with  the  ferocious  animals  that  lurked  in  every  mountain  hollow  and 
valley;  and  from  the  still  more  exciting  experiences  that  came  from 
actual  or  anticipated  encounters  with  hostile  Indians.  And  there 
was  an  excitement,  intense  and  pleasurable,  in  their  task  of  home- 
making.  There  is  no  greater  pleasure  to  normal  men  and  women 
than  the  work  of  making  a  home,  where  they  can  be  surrounded  by 
their  children,  and  enjoy  the  comforts  and  beautiful  things  that  are 
the  products  of  honest,  earnest  toil.  Wliat  a  delight  it  must  have 
been  to  our  ancestors.  Like  happy  birds  building  nests  for  their 
young  were  the  men  as  they  felled  the  trees  and  built  their  cabins ; 
and  the  good  women,  no  doubt,  would  joyfully  sing  the  old-time 
songs,  in  rivalry  of  the  love-songs  of  their  feathered  neighbors,  as 
they  placed  in  position  their  modest  household  possessions. 

There  was  still  anotlier  exciting  pleasure  enjoyed  by  the  pioneers, 
as  hunters.  It  combined  both  business  and  amusement.  At  the 
time  the  first  settlements  were  made,  the  Clinch  Valley  was  the 
most  cherished  hunting  ground  of  the  Shawnee  and  Cherokee 
Indians.  Both  of  these  tribes  were  very  j  ealous  of  its  appropriation 
by  white  men;  and,  as  rival  claimants  to  the  territory,  had  engaged 
in  many  bloody  contests  for  its  possession. 

Though  hunting  parties  from  Eastern  Virginia,  known  as  "Lrong 
Hunters",  had  been  visiting  the  Clinch  Valley  regularly  for  nearly 
twenty  years  previous  to  the  advent  of  the  pioneers,  and  had  killed 
thousands  of  splendid  animals  for  their  valuable  hides;  and,  though 
the  Indians  had  made  frequent  journeys  to  this  favorite  hunting 
ground  to  procure  supplies  of  meat  for  winter  use,  there  was  an 
abundance  of  deer,  bears,  and  smaller  game  animals  left  here. 
Small  herds  of  buffalo  and  a  few  elk  also  wandered  in  to  graze  upon 
the  succulent  herbage,  the  wild  pea  vine  and  the  bluegrass,  that 


254  History  of  Tazewell  County 

was  found  in  profusion  everywhere;  and  it  was  truly  a  hunter's 
paradise  for  the  first  settlers.  They  hunted  the  animals  I  have 
mentioned  chiefly  for  meat  for  their  families ;  but  the  skins  were  also 
of  special  value  as  they  were  used,  together  with  the  hides  of  the 
otter,  beaver,  mink,  fox,  and  other  fur-bearing  animals,  to  buy 
powder  and  lead,  iron  and  other  necessary  articles  from  merchants 
or  dealers  in  the  eastern  part  of  Virginia. 

The  pioneers  were  all  expert  hunters,  or  soon  became  expert 
after  they  reached  the  Clinch  regions.  They  acquired  all  the  tricks 
and  arts  used  by  the  Indians  to  lure  game  within  range  of  their 
rifles,  imitating  the  call  of  the  turkey,  the  howling  of  the  wolf  and 
the  sounds  and  calls  of  other  animals  and  fowls.  The  keen-eyed 
hunters  could  easily  distinguish  the  marks  or  traces  left  by  different 
kinds  of  game,  and  soon  became  familiar  with  the  haunts  of  the 
deer,  the  elk,  the  bear,  the  wolf,  and  every  kind  of  animal  that 
abided  or  roamed  in  the  region.  All  the  men  were  successful  hun- 
ters, but  some  won  the  distinction  of  experts.  James  Witten,  son  of 
Thomas  Witten,  the  first  settler,  who  was  only  fifteen  years  old 
when  he  came  with  his  father  to  tlie  Clinch  Valley,  soon  after  his 
arrival  was  admitted  to  be  the'  most  skillful  hunter  and  woodsman 
in  the  settlements ;  and  in  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary  War  he 
became  the  most  noted  and  efficient  scout  in  the  entire  region.  Dr. 
Bickley,  who  obtained  much  valuable  information  directly  from  the 
sons  of  the  jiioneers,  wrote  in  his  History  of  Tazewell  County  the 
following  interesting  story  of  the  accomplishments  of  the  early 
woodsmen: 

"Neither  was  hunting  the  mere  pastime,  devoid  of  skill,  which  it 
now  is.  The  hunter  might  be  considered  somewhat  of  a  meteorol- 
ogist; he  paid  particular  attention  to  the  winds,  rains,  snows,  and 
frosts;  for  almost  every  change  altered  the  location  of  game.  He 
knew  the  cardinal  points  by  the  thick  bark  and  moss  on  the  north 
side  of  a  tree,  so  that  during  the  darkest  and  most  gloomy  night 
he  knew  which  was  the  north,  and  so  his  home  or  camp.  The 
natural  habits  of  the  deer  were  well  studied;  and  hence  he  knew  at 
what  times  they  fed,  etc.  If,  in  hunting,  he  found  a  deer  at  feed, 
he  stopped,  and  though  he  might  be  open  to  it,  did  not  seek  to 
obscure  himself,  but  waited  till  it  raised  its  head  and  looked  at 
him.  He  remained  motionless  till  the  deer,  satisfied  that  nothing 
moving  was  in  sight,  again  commenced  feeding.  He  then  began  to 
advance,  if  he  had  the  wind  of  it,  and  if  not  he  retreated  and  came 


and  Southwest  Virginia  255 

up  another  way,  so  as  to  place  the  deer  between  himself  and  the 
wind.  As  long  as  the  deer's  head  was  down  he  continued  to  advance 
till  he  saw  it  shake  the  tail.  In  a  moment  he  became  the  same 
motionless  object,  till  it  again  put  down  its  head.  In  this  way,  he 
would  soon  approach  to  within  sixty  yards,  when  his  unerring  rifle 
did  the  work  of  death.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  deer  never  put 
their  heads  to  the  ground,  or  raise  it,  without  shaking  the  tail 
before  so  doing. 

"The  quantity  of  game  will  be  apparent  when  it  is  known  that 
Mr.  Ebenezer  Brewster  killed,  during  his  life,  twelve  hundred  bears 
in  this  county.  He  died  in  the  summer  of  1850,  and  this  statement 
occurred  in  an  obituary  notice." 

There  was  another  famous  hunter  in  Tazewell  County  who  was 
a  contemporary  of  Ebenezer  Brester.  I  refer  to  'Squire  Thomas 
Peery.  He  was  called  "Squire  Tommie"  to  distinguish  him  from 
a  number  of  other  Peerys  who  bore  the  name  of  Thomas.  His 
father,  William  Peery,  settled  in  1773  where  the  town  of  Tazewell  is 
now  located,  and  he  was  born  and  reared  near  the  site  of  the  resi- 
dence of  the  late  Albert  P.  Gillespie.  He  was  a  fine  business  man 
and  acquired  a  splendid  estate,  but  was  an  ardent  hunter,  bear- 
hunting  being  his  special  delight;  and  he  had  a  record  for  the  num- 
ber of  bears  he  killed  that  nearly  equalled  that  of  Ebenezer  Brew- 
ster. If  he  had  devoted  more  time  to  hunting  and  less  to  his  personal 
affairs,  he  would,  no  doubt,  have  beaten  Brewster's  record.  As  it 
was,  he  had  a  record  of  more  than  a  thousand  bears  and  killed  great 
numbers  of  deer  and  wolves. 

THE    COUNTY  OF   FINCASTLE   ESTABLISHED. 

When  the  county  of  Botetourt  was  established  by  an  act  of  the 
General  Assembly,  passed  November  28th,  1769,  there  were  but  few 
inhabitants  in  that  portion  of  Virginia  west  of  the  New  River,  all 
of  which  section  was  made  a  part  of  the  new  coimty.  They  were  so 
remote  from  the  place  where  it  was  known  the  county  seat  was  to 
be  located  that  the  act  provided  that  the  people  "situated  on  the 
waters  of  the  Mississippi,"  which  included  the  few  settlers  in  the 
Clinch  Valley,  "shall  be  exempted  from  the  payment  of  levies,  to  be 
laid  by  the  said  county  court  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  county 
court-house  and  prison  for  the  said  county."  Another  important  and 
substantial  reason  was  recited  in  the  act  for  the  exemption  of  such 
inliabitants  from  the  specified  taxation.     This  reason  was,  that  the 


256  History  of  Tazewell  County 

people  living  on  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi:  "Must  necessarily 
become  a  separate  county,  as  soon  as  their  numbers  are  sufficient, 
which  will  probably  happen  in  a  short  time." 

The  General  Assembly  was  acquainted  with  the  fact  tliat  many 
men  with  their  families  were  on  the  borders,  ready  to  cross  New 
River  and  settle  on  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi — that  is  in  the 
Clinch,  Holston  and  New  River  valleys — and  that  some  settlers 
had  already  moved  out  to  the  wilderness  country.  So,  it  was  found 
necessary,  in  less  than  three  years  after  Botetourt  County  was 
formed,  to  verify  the  prediction  that  a  new  county  would  have  to 
be  provided  for  the  inhabitants  living  on  the  waters  of  the  Missis- 
sippi west  of  New  River.  In  the  winter  of  1771-72  the  settlers 
of  the  Holston  and  New  River  valleys  presented  a  petition  to  the 
General  Assembly,  setting  forth  the  inconvenience  arising  from 
their  remoteness  from  the  county  seat  of  Botetourt,  and  praying 
for  the  erection  of  a  new  county.  Responding  to  this  petition,  the 
General  Assembly,  on  the  8th  day  of  April,  1772,  enacted  the  fol- 
lowing: 

"I.  Whereas  it  is  represented  to  this  present  General  Assembly, 
by  the  inhabitants  and  settlers  on  the  waters  of  the  Holston  and 
New  River  in  the  county  of  Botetourt  that  they  labour  under  great 
inconvenience,  by  reason  of  the  extent  of  said  county  and  their 
remote  situation  from  the  court  house: 

"Be  it  therefore  enacted,  by  the  Council,  and  Burgesses  of  this 
present  General  Assembly,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted,  by  the  authority 
of  the  same.  That  from  after  the  first  day  of  December  next,  the 
said  county  of  Botetourt  shall  be  divided  into  two  distinct  counties, 
that  is  to  say,  all  that  part  of  the  said  county  within  a  line  to  run 
up  the  east  side  of  the  New  River  to  the  mouth  of  Culberson's 
creek;  thence  a  direct  line  to  the  Catawba  road,  where  it  crosses 
the  dividing  ridge  between  the  north  fork  of  Roanoke  and  the  waters 
of  New  River;  thence  with  the  top  of  the  ridge  to  the  bent  where 
it  turns  eastwardly;  thence  a  south  course,  crossing  Little  River  to 
the  top  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains  shall  be  established  as  one  dis- 
tinct county  and  called  and  known  by  the  name  of  Fincastle,  and  all 
the  other  part  thereof,  which  lies  to  the  east  of  the  said  line,  shall 
be  one  other  distinct  county  and  retain  the  name  of  Botetourt." 

The  act  provided  for  a  justices'  court  to  be  held  on  the  first 
Tuesday  of  every  month  after  the  county  was  regularly  organized, 
and  made  provision  for  the  usual  county  officers  and  public  buildings. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  257 

but  did  not  designate  any  location  for  the  county  seat.    The  Colonial 
Governor  ordered  that  the  county  seat  should  be  placed  at  the  Lead 
Mines,  in  the  present  county  of  Wythe,  and  where  the  village  of 
Austinville  is  now  situated;  and  the  name  of  the  county,  Fincastle, 
was  received  from  the  country  seat  of  Lord  Botetourt,  in  England. 
No  reference  is  made  in  the  act  to  the  settlers  on  the  Clinch 
River,  and,  apparently,  none  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Clinch  Valley 
sig-ned  the  petition.     These  omissions  may  have  been  caused  by  the 
fact  that  the  Clinch  Valley  was  then  so  inaccessible  and  isolated, 
that  the  men  who  promoted  the  scheme  did  not  undertake  to  cross  the 
mountains  and  present  the  petition  to  the  settlers,  who  were  scat- 
tered for  more  than  seventy  miles  up  and  down  the  valley.    At  the 
time   the   petition    was    prepared    and   presented   to   the    General 
Asesembly  there  must  have  been  several  hundred  people  living  in 
the  territory  that  now  constitutes  Tazewell  County;  and  as  many 
more  were  located  lower  down  the  Clinch,  in  the  present  counties  of 
Russell  and  Scott.    As  early  as  1770  there  was  quite  a  community  of 
settlers   in   the   present   Castle's   Woods   neighborhood   in   Russell 
County.      The   men   who   formed  that   settlement   were: 
Castle,  from  whom  the  place  received  its  name;  Henry  Dickenson, 
Charles  Bickley,  Simon  Oscher,  James  Bush,  William  Fraley,  Arch- 
elous   Dickenson,   Humphrey   Dickenson,   James   Osborn,   William 
Richie,  Jerry  Harold,  William  Robertson,  Richard  Long,  WiUiam 
Bowlin,  William  Russell,  Samuel  Porter,  Henry  Neece,  Henry  Ham- 
blin  and  William  Wharton. 

John  Murray,  Fourth  Earl  of  Dunmore,  was  then  governor  of 
the  colony  of  Virginia;  and  was  the  last  royal  governor  Virginia 
had.  On  December  the  1st,  1772,  he  issued  a  "Commission  of 
Peace"  appointing  the  justices  who  were  to  constitute  the  first 
county  court  of  Fincastle  County,  as  follows:  William  Preston, 
William  Christian,  Stephen  Trigg,  Walter  Crockett,  Anthony  Bled- 
soe, Arthur  Campbell,  Benjamin  Estill,  William  Inglis,  John  Mont- 
gomery, Robert  Doach,  James  McGavock,  James  Thompson,  Wil- 
liam Russell,  Samuel  Crockett,  Alexander  McKee. 

William  Russell,  one  of  the  above  named  justices,  was  from  ^ 
the  Middle  Clinch  Valley.  He  then  lived  at  or  near  Castle's  Woods, ' 
where  he  erected  a  fort  in  1774  on  the  land  of  one  Cowan;  and  later 
he  became  very  prominent  in  both  the  civil  and  military  affairs  of 
the  Clinch  Valley  and  of  Southwest  Virginia,  as  succeeding  pages 
of  this  volume  will  disclose.  The  first  county  court  for  Fincastle 
was  held  at  the  Lead  Mmes  on  the  5th  of  January,  1773,  with  the 

T.H.— 17 


258  History  of  Tazewell  County 

following  members  of  the  court  present  and  sitting:  Arthur  Camp- 
bell, James  Thompson,  William  Preston,  William  Ingles,  Walter 
Crockett  and  James  McGavock. 

The  court  elected  William  Preston  sheriff  of  the  county;  and 
Daniel  Trigg,  John  Floyd,  James  Thompson,  and  Henry  Moore 
were  made  his  deputies.  William  Preston  was  also  elected  surveyor 
of  the  county,  with  the  following  as  his  deputies:  John  Floyd, 
Daniel  Smith,  William  Russell,  Robert  Preston,  Robert  Doach,  and 
James  Douglas.  Two  of  the  deputy  surveyors,  Smith  and  Russell, 
were  from  the  Clinch  Valley,  and  were  then  living  in  the  present 
county  of  Russell. 

John  Byrd  was  elected  clerk  of  the  county,  with  William  Chris- 
tian, Stephen  Trigg,  and  Richard  Madison  for  his  deputies.  John 
Aylett  was  elected  King's  Council,  which  completed  the  civil  organ- 
ization of  the  county. 

From  the  showing  of  the  records,  it  seems  that  the  pioneer  set- 
tlers of  Tazewell  County  took  no  active  part  in  the  organization  of 
the  county  of  Fincastle.  They  were  too  busily  occupied  with  the 
building  of  their  homes,  clearing  their  fields,  and  perfecting  them- 
selves as  woodsmen  and  frontier  soldiers  to  give  much  heed  to  their 
civil  connection  with  the  Virginia  Government.  The  upper  Clinch 
settlements  were  then  the  extreme  northwestern  outposts  of  the 
territory  occupied  by  white  men  west  of  New  River;  and  were 
directly  at  the  front  of  three  of  the  favorite  war-paths,  or  trails, 
that  the  Shawnees  traveled  when  they  came  to  this  section  to  hunt 
or  make  atacks  upon  the  settlers.  Being  so  perilously  located,  our 
ancestors  on  the  Clinch  were  very  wise  in  preparing  to  defend  their 
homes  and  possessions  against  the  attacks  they  apprehended  were 
coming  from  the  red  men;  and,  in  doing  this,  they  were  rendering  a 
great  service  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Holston  and  New  River  val- 
leys by  erecting  a  strong  barrier  for  their  protection  from  the 
Indians. 

When  the  first  settlers  came  to  Tazewell  they  knew  they  were 
taking  a  very  serious  risk  of  having  their  families  suffer  for  a  time 
from  a  lack  of  proper  food;  and  they  realized  that  a  much  graver 
danger  would  liave  to  be  met,  that  of  having  their  dear  ones,  and 
perhaps  themselves,  murdered  by  the  Indians.  The  danger  of  any- 
one suffering  for  lack  of  substantial  food,  or  other  creature  comforts, 
in  the  Clinch  settlements  had,  apparently,  disappeared  by  the  time 
Fincastle  County  was  established;  but  the  perils  from  Indian  inva- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  259 

sions  had  increased  considerably,  and,  in  fact,  were  imminent.  For 
.several  years  previous  to  1773  the  Northwestern  Indians  had  been 
'exhibiting  marked  hostility  to  the  Fort  Stanwix  treaty,  by  which 
treaty  the  Iroquois  Nation  had  assumed  the  right  to  cede  all  the 
hunting  grounds  south  of  the  Ohio  to  the  Dominion  of  Virginia;  and 
the  Shawnees  were  greatly  exasperated  by  the  avowed  purpose  of 
the  Virginians  to  extend  their  settlements  along  the  Kanawha  River 
and  from  its  mouth  on  down  into  Kentucky. 

A  number  of  prominent  men,  resident  both  east  and  west  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  were  anxious  to  secure  large  holdings  of  the  splendid, 
fertile  lands  that  were  known  to  lie  in  the  lower  Kanawha  Valley, 
along  the  southern  banks  of  the  Ohio,  and  in  most  of  the  sections  of 
Kentucky,  while  the  settlers  in  Clinch  Valley  were  more  than  con- 
tent with  what  they  had  found  here,  and  were  intent  upon  holding 
the  valuable  territory  they  had  already  acquired.  Among  the  then 
and  subsequently  distinguished  men  of  Virginia  who  were  seeking 
to  locate  large  boundaries  of  land  on  the  Kanawha  and  Ohio  Rivers, 
ind  in  the  territory  of  the  present  State  of  Kentucky,  were:  George 
Washington,  Patrick  Henry,  William  Byrd,  Andrew  Lewis,  William 
Preston,  William  Russell,  Arthur  Campbell,  and  others.  George 
Washington  had  already  won  a  leading  position  in  the  citizenship 
of  Virginia,  and  Patrick  Henry  had  just  emerged  from  thriftless 
obscurity  and  become  famous  as  an  orator  and  tribune  of  the  people. 
Some  of  those  who  were  eager  to  acquire  lands  in  the  unsettled 
territory  were  real  home-seekers,  a  few  were  speculators  who  desired 
to  accumulate  large  estates,  and  many  were  officers  and  soldiers  who 
had  obtained  grants  from  the  Virginia  Government  for  valuable 
service  rendered  in  the  French  and  Indian  War. 

Small  exploring  parties  had  visited  the  Kanawha,  Ohio,  and 
Kentucky  regions  in  1773,  and  had  returned  to  the  settlements  In 
Virginia  with  glowing  accounts  of  the  wonderful  fertility  of  the  soil 
and  the  abundant  resources  of  the  unappropriated  lands  they  had 
traversed.  The  Indians  were  well  informed,  through  their  spies 
andhunting  parties,  of  these  exploring  expeditions;  and  reasonably 
concluded  that  they  were  the  precursors  of  an  active  movement  of 
the  white  men  to  take  complete  control,  for  settlement,  of  the  entire 
country  south  of  the  Ohio,  and  to  drive  the  natives  from  their  splen- 
did hunting  grounds.  Then  began  a  series  of  outrages,  committed 
by  both  the  Indians  and  the  whites,  that  brought  a  reign  of  terror  to 
the  borders ;  and  the  Tazewell  pioneers  had  barely  erected  their 
/cabin  homes  when  they  were  required  to  enter  into  a  desperate 


260  History  of  Tazewell  County 

struggle  with  the  most  intrepid  Indian  warriors  then  living  east  of 
the  Mississippi. 


Small  bands  of  Shawnees  began  to  make  hostile  incursions  into 
the  Lower  Clinch  Vallej'^,  and  during  the  fall  of  1773,  according  to 
reports  of  Colonel  William  Preston,  countj'^  lieutenant  of  Fincastle 
County,  eleven  persons  were  murdered  by  the  Indians  in  the  county 
of  Fincastle.  The  most  notable  of  the  outrages  committed  was  the 
killing  of  James  Boone,  son  of  Daniel  Boone;  Henry  Russell,  son 

of   Captain  William   Russell,   and  Drake,   son  of   Captain 

Drake.  Daniel  Boone  had  collected  a  company  of  emigrants  in 
North  Carolina  and  from  the  Holston  and  Clinch  valleys,  and  had 
started  to  Kentucky  to  establish  a  settlement.  The  three  young 
men,  or  youths,  had  separated  from  the  party  to  engage  in  hunting, 
and  had  secured  a  large  number  of  valuable  pelts  which  they 
intended  to  take  to  market.  On  October  10th,  1773,  they  were  sur- 
prised and  killed  by  a  mixed  party  of  Shawnees  and  Cherokees.  It 
was  thought  that  one  Isaac  Crabtree,  a  white  desperado  and  outlaw, 
had  provoked  the  attack;  and  that  the  three  youths  were  murdered 
for  purposes  of  robbery,  as  all  their  pelts  and  other  belongings  were 
stolen  by  the  murderei'S.  Daniel  Boone  abandoned  his  migration  to 
Kentucky  for  the  time  being,  and  brought  his  party  back  to  the 
Clinch  and  Holston  valleys.  He  remained  in  this  section  throughout 
1774,  and  rendered  very  valuable  assistance  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Clinch  Valley  while  Dunmore's  War  was  in  progress. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1774  a  number  of  surveying  parties  made 
their  way  to  the  Lower  Kanawha  Valley  and  to  Kentucky,  where 
they  surveyed  a  number  of  large  and  valuable  tracts  of  land,  and 
entered  them  in  the  names  of  the  several  persons  who  had  employed 
them  to  do  the  work.  Among  the  surveyors  were:  James  Douglas, 
Hancock  Taylor,  Anthony  Bledsoe,  and  John  Floyd.  The  descend- 
ants of  John  Floyd  have  had  so  much  to  do  with  the  making  of  the 
history  of  Tazewell  County  that  it  will  be  appropriate  to  give  a 
brief  sketch  of  the  life  and  career  of  the  pioneer  surveyor,  which 
I  take  from  Thwaites'  "Dunmore's  War:" 

"John  Floyd  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1750,  and  when  about 
twenty-two  years  of  age  removed  to  Fincastle  County,  and  engaged 
in  school-teaching,  living  in  the  home  of  Colonel  William  Preston. 
In  1774  he  was  appointed  deputy  sheriff  {also  deputy  surveyor) 
and  in  the  spring  of  the  same  year  led  a  surveying  party  into  Ken- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  261 

tucky.  Upon  his  return  he  joined  the  Point  Point  Pleasant  expedi- 
tion, but  arrived  too  late  to  engage  in  the  "battle.  The  following 
year  he  returned  to  Kentucky  as  surveyor  of  the  Transylvania  Com- 
pany and  remained  at  St.  Asaph's  till  the  summer  of  1776.  Return- 
ing to  Virginia  he  embarked  on  a  privateering  enterprise,  was  cap- 
tured, and  spent  a  year  in  Dartmouth  prison,  England.  Having 
effected  an  escape  to  France,  Franklin  aided  him  to  return  to 
America,  where  he  married  Jane  Buchanan,  a  niece  of  Colonel  Pres- 
ton, and  in  1779  set  out  for  his  final  emigration  to  Kentucky.  There 
he  built  a  station  on  Beargrass  Creek,  but  was  shot  and  mortally 
wounded  by  the  Indians  in  1783.  His  son  John  became  governor  of 
Virginia." 

Colonel  George  Washington  had  become  greatly  impressed  with 
the  future  value  of  the  lands  on  the  lower  Kanawha  and  in  Kentucky. 
Very  largely  by  his  work  and  influence  the  government  of  Virginia 
had  issued  large  grants  to  the  colonial  officers  and  soldiers  who  had 
served  in  the  French  and  Indian  War.  Washington  was  anxious  to 
secure  patents  for  some  200,000  acres  for  himself  and  his  fellow- 
officers  and  soldiers.  He  had  been  intimately  associated  with  Col- 
onel William  Preston  during  the  French  and  Indian  War,  and  had 
great  confidence  in  Preston's  business  integrity  and  sagacity.  This 
induced  the  future  "Father  of  his  Country",  and  a  number  of  other 
distinguished  Virginians  who  were  associated  with  Jiim,  to  place 
the  matter  of  locating  their  grants  in  the  hands  of  Colonel  Preston. 
At  that  time  John  Floyd  was  living  at  Colonel  Preston's  and  was 
both  deputy  surveyor  and  deputy  sheriff  of  Fincastle  Covmty;  and 
he  was  selected  to  conduct  a  surveying  party  to  Kentucky. 

On  the  9th  of  April,  1774<,  Floyd  started  on  his  surveying  expedi- 
tion, with  eight  men  as  his  companions,  whom  he  had  collected 
together  at  Smithfield,  the  home  of  Colonel  Preston,  which  was 
situated  a  short  distance  west  of  the  present  town  of  Blacksburg. 
One  of  the  party,  Thomas  Hanson,  kept  a  journal,  in  which  he 
entered  many  interesting  incidents  connected  with  the  expedition; 
but  which,  on  account  of  its  length,  cannot  be  reproduced  in  its 
entirety  in  this  volume.     In  the  first  entry  Hanson  says : 

"We  left  Col.  Wm.  Preston's  in  Fincastle  County  at  one  o'clock 
in  high  spirits,  escorted  by  the  Coin,  three  miles,  eight  of  us  being 
in  company,  viz  Mr.  John  Floyd  assistant  surveyor,  Mr.  Douglas, 
Mr.   Hite,  Mr.   Dandridge,   Thos.   Hanson   James   Nocks    (Knox) 


262  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Roderick  McCra  &  Mordecai  Batson.     We  traveled  fifteen  miles  to 
John  McGuffins  at  Sinking  Creek." 

Floyd's  party,  evidently,  intended  to  follow  practically  the  same 
route  the  Shawnees  pursued  in  1755,  when  they  took  Mrs.  Ingles 
and  the  other  captives  from  Draper's  Meadows  to  the  Indian  towns 
in  Ohio.  They  overtook  Hancock  Taylor,  assistant  surveyor,  and 
his  company  of  seven  men  on  their  sixth  day  out.  On  the  eighth  day 
they  passed  the  Burning  Spring,  which  was  situated  about  fifteen 
miles  above  the  present  Charleston,  West  Virginia.  This  spring  was 
then  a  pool  of  water,  through  which  natural  gas  forced  its  way 
and  kept  burning,  when  ignited,  over  the  surface  of  the  water. 

On  the  17th  day  of  April  the  company,  then  seventeen  men,  came 
upon  Major  Jolm  Field  and  liis  party  of  explorers,  some  nine  or 
ten  miles  below  the  mouth  of  Elk  Creek.  Hanson  saj's  Major  Field 
and  his  people  "informed  us,  that  the  Indians  had  placed  themselves 
on  both  sides  of  the  Ohio,  and  that  thej'  intended  war." 

The  19th  of  April,  Flojd  and  his  party  saw  Thomas  Hogg,  who 
was  improving  a  river  bottom  for  cultivation,  and  Hanson  recorded 
in  his  journal:  "Mr.  Hogg  confirmed  the  news  we  had  of  the 
Indians.  He  says  there  were  13  People  who  intended  to  settle  on 
the  Ohio,  and  the  Indians  came  upon  them  and  a  battle  ensued.  The 
white  people  killed  3  Indians  (imagined  to  be  chiefs)  and  then  fled. 
This  caused  the  Indians  to  hold  a  council  &  they  are  determined  to 
kill  the  Virginians  and  rob  the  Pennsylvanians." 

Regardless  of  the  warnings  of  Colonel  Field  and  Mr.  Hogg,  the 
fearless  young  surveyor  and  his  resolute  companions  proceeded  as 
rapidly  as  possible  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha.  When  they 
arrived  at  the  point,  which  in  a  few  months  was  to  be  made  the  scene 
of  the  bloodiest  battle  that  had  yet  taken  place  between  the  white 
men  and  the  Indians,  Hanson  says  in  his  journal:  "At  our  arrival 
we  found  26  people  there  on  different  designs — some  to  cultivate 
land,  others  to  attend  the  surveyors.  They  confirm  the  same  story  of 
the  Indians.  *  *  *  ^jj..  Floyd  and  the  other  Surveyors  were 
received  with  great  joy  by  the  people  here." 

After  resting  a  day  at  the  place,  which  now  bears  the  historic 
name  of  Point  Pleasant,  the  surveying  party  divided  into  two  groups 
and  proceeded  down  the  Ohio  River.  In  a  few  days  they  reached 
Kentucky,  where  they  again  received  from  hunters  and  explorers 
additional  warnings  of  the  threatened  outbreak  of  the  Indians;  and 
Hanson  notes   that   "the   alarm  before   mentioned   occasioned  4   to 


and  Southwest  Virginia  263 

return  back,  viz  Mr.  Dandi'idge,  Taylor,  Holloway  &  Waggoner." 
The  remainder  of  the  company,  then  thirty-three  in  number,  traveled 
on  dovt^n  the  Ohio  for  several  days  until  they  arrived  at  a  point 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Sciota  River.  This  was  on  Saturday,  the 
."JOth  of  Api-il,  and  as  to  what  was  done  on  May  1st,  the  following 
day,  Hanson  relates:  "It  being  Sunday  we  took  our  rest,  and  looked 
at  an  old  Fort  we  found  about  4  or  500  hundred  yards  from  the 
Banks  of  the  River.  It  is  a  square  Figure,  each  side  300  Paces  long. 
It  has  4  gates  and  Sally  Ports,  and  it  is  so  antient,  that  the  Indians 
cannot  tell  when  it  was  built,  or  by  whome.  There  has  been  an 
Indian  Town  there  formerly  &  there  is  some  remains  of  it  to  this 
Day." 

Thwaites  undertakes  to  account  for  this  strange  ruin,  which 
Hanson  calls  a  Fort,  by  saying  that  George  Croghan,  a  Pennsylvania 
trader,  had,  some  twenty  years  previously,  built  a  stone  trading 
house  in  the  locality  where  Floyd's  party  saw  the  ruin.  Hanson's 
description  of  its  dimensions  must  be  greatly  exaggregated,  or 
Thwaites'  theory  of  its  origin  is  unreasonable. 

On  the  2nd  day  of  May,  Floyd  and  his  companion  surveyors 
began  their  surveying  in  Kentucky.  The  first  survey  they  made  was 
a  boundary  of  four  or  five  hundred  acres  in  the  name  of  Patrick 
Henry,  which  included  the  old  Fort  and  the  abandoned  Indian  town. 
It  was  the  town  from  which  Mrs.  Mary  Ingles  made  her  escape 
from  the  Indians  in  1755.  Floyd  and  his  company  then  wen\ 
actively  to  work,  making  surveys  of  the  best  lands  in  different  locali- 
ties, and  continued  this  work  until  Daniel  Boone  and  Michael  Stoner, 
messengers  sent  out  by  Captain  Russell,  reached  and  informed  them 
that  the  Indians  had  commenced  hostilities.  Thereupon,  Floyd,  and 
the  men  who  were  with  him,  started  on  a  hasty  march  to  the  Clinch 
Valley  settlements,  while  Boone  and  Stoner  went  on  to  give  warn- 
ing to  Taylor  and  others  who  had  separated  from  Floyd's  survey- 
ing party. 

The  Floyd  surveying  expedition  was  an  incident  that  very 
greatly  affected  the  welfare  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Clinch  Valley; 
and  for  that  reason  I  have  given  it  extended  notice.  It  was  one  of 
the  certain  contributing  causes  that  provoked  the  Indians  to  com- 
mence hostile  attacks  in  1774  upon  the  settlers  in  the  Alleghany 
regions — all  the  way  from  Pennsylvania  to  the  Cumberland  Moun- 
tains— and  it  involved  the  Tazewell  pioneers  in  a  frightful  struggle 
with  the  Shawnees,  that  did  not  terminate  until  several  years  after 
the  Revolutionary  War  was  concluded. 


264  History  of  Tazewell  County 

In  the  spring  of  1774  the  Virginians  were  engaged  in  two  very 
bitter  quarrels,  one  with  the  Pennsylvanians  over  the  boundary  line 
between  the  two  provinces,  and  the  other  with  the  Indians  in  Ohio 
over  the  territory  south  of  the  Ohio  River.  The  Virginians  were 
determined  to  take  actual  possession  of  the  uninhabited  lands  in 
Kentucky  and  in  the  present  West  Virginia  for  establishing  settle- 
ments, claiming  to  have  acquired  the  right  to  do  this  under  the  treaty 
made  with  the  Iroquois  Indians.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Pennsyl- 
vanians did  not  wish  to  disturb  the  Indians  in  the  possession  of  the 
disputed  territory.  The  Pennsylvania  traders  had  for  a  number  of 
years  held  control  of  the  trade  with  the  Indians  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 
and  had  realized  heavy  profits  therefrom ;  and  they  openly  encour- 
aged the  red  men  to  resist  further  encroachments  upon  their  hunting 
grounds  by  the  white  men,  no  matter  whether  they  were  from  Vir- 
ginia or  Pennsylvania. 

John  Floyd,  wrote  a  letter  to  Colonel  William  Preston,  dated, 
"Little  Giandot,  26th  April  1774,"  in  which  he  related  the  follow- 
ing: "Last  night  Thos.  Glen,  Lawrence  Ordered  &  William  Nash 
came  to  our  camp  who  were  ordered  off  the  River  by  a  Party  of 
Indians  who  only  saw  them  across  the  River.  The  Shawnees  took 
Darnell  &  6  Others  prisoners  a  few  weeks  ago  &  held  a  Council 
Over  them  three  Days;  after  which  they  took  everything  they  had 
&  sent  them  off:  telling  them  at  the  same  time  it  was  the  directions 
from  the  SuiDcrintendent  Geo.  Crohon  (Croghan)  to  kill  all  the 
Virginians  they  could  find  on  the  River  &  rob  &  whip  the  Penn- 
sylvanians.    This  they  told  them  in  English." 

The  Virginians  were  greatly  angered  by  the  conduct  of  such 
scoundrels  as  Croghan ;  and  accused  the  Pennsylvania  traders  of  not 
only  inciting  the  Indians  to  commit  brutal  outrages  upon  the  whites, 
but  charged  them  with  supplying  the  savages  with  guns  and  ammuni- 
tion to  be  used  in  their  plundering  and  murderous  forays  against  the 
border  settlements.  But  the  best  element  of  the  backwoodsmen, 
including  the  Clinch  Valley  pioneers,  were  reluctant  to  engage  in 
war  with  the  Indians,  knowing  that  a  very  large  percentage  of  the 
much-wronged  natives  were  still  friendly  to  the  whites  and  wanted 
to  preserve  peaceful  relations  with  them.  Availing  themselves  of 
several  acts  of  violence  and  thievery  perpetrated  by  a  few  of  the 
vicious  red  men,  certain  brutal  and  disorderly  white  men  began 
to  murder,  without  provocation,  innocent  men  and  women  of  the  red 
race. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  265 

A  few  days  after  John  Floyd  made  his  voyage  down  the  Ohio 
River  fi*om  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha,  two  cruel  butcheries  of 
friendly  Indians  occuncd  in  the  Upper  Ohio  Valley.  These  acts 
were  so  inhuman  that  even  the  friendly  Indians  became  frenzied, 
and  war  was  ushered  in.  As  previously  stated,  there  was  an  acri- 
monious controversy  going  on  between  the  Virginians  and  the  Pennr 
sylvanians  over  the  boundry  line.  Virginia  was  claiming  title  to  the 
country  about  Pittsburg  and  the  entire  Susquehana  Valley ;  and  a 
large  number  of  the  Permsylvania  mountaineers  were  supporting  the 
claims  of  the  Virginia  Government.  Lord  Dunmore,  then  governor, 
appointed  Dr.  John  Connolly,  a  native  of  Lancaster  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, to  act  as  agent  for  Virginia  in  the  boundary  dispute. 
Connolly  was  a  fiery-tempered  and  rash  man ;  and  was  not  unwilling 
to  bring  about  strife  between  the  men  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania, 
and  i^recipitate  war  with  the  Ohio  Indians.  On  April  15th,  1774, 
three  traders  in  the  employ  of  a  man  named  Butler  were  traveling 
in  a  canoe  about  fifty  miles  below  Pittsburg  when  they  were  attacked 
and  robbed  by  a  band  of  outlaw  Cherokees.  John  Floyd  in  his  letter 
to  Colonel  Preston,  written  at  "Little  Giandot"  on  the  26th  of  April, 
thus  refers  to  the  incident:  "The  whites  &  Indians  the  15th  Instant 
had  a  skirmish  at  the  mouth  of  Beaver  Creek  45  miles  below  Pitts- 
burg. One  white  man  killed,  another  wounded  &  One  other  yet 
missing  the  Wounded  man  got  into  Fort  Pitt  where  Dr.  Wood 
Dressed  his  Wounds,  this  I  have  from  the  second  hand  &  I  think 
may  be  depended  on." 

Immediately  following  this  act  of  violence,  Connolly  issued  an 
open  letter  to  the  white  men  on  the  frontier,  ordering  them  to  make 
strong  resistance  to  all  attacks  made  hj  the  Indians,  and  informing 
the  backwoodsmen  that  the  Shawnees  had  become  hostile.  This 
circular  letter  was  construed  by  the  more  desperate  white  men  on 
the  border  to  be  an  invitation  to  make  attacks  upon  the  Indians.  In 
fact  the  letter  was  interpreted  by  the  white  settlers  to  be  a  declara- 
tion of  war  against  the  Shawnees  and  their  allies  of  the  other  Ohio 
tribes;  and  Roosevelt  says:  "As  soon  as  thej'  received  Connolly's 
letter  they  proceeded  to  declare  war  in  the  regular  Indian  style, 
calling  a  council,  planting  the  war-post,  and  going  through  other 
savage  ceremonies,  and  eagerly  waited  for  a  chance  to  attack  their 
foes." 

Captain  Michael  Cresap  was  then  near  Wheeling  with  a  company 
of  hunters  and  scouts,  and  with  them  engaged  in  the  savage  cere- 
monies described  by  Roosevelt.     Butler,  the  trader,  whose  men  had 


266  History  of  Tazewell  County 

been  robbed  and  killed  by  the  Cherokees,  sent  two  friendly  Shawnees 
in  a  canoe  to  the  mouth  of  Beaver  Creek  to  try  to  recover  some  of 
the  furs  of  which  he  had  been  robbed  by  the  Cherokees.  These  two 
friendly  Shawnees  were  ambushed,  and  killed,  and  scalped,  by 
Captain  Cresap  and  his  men,  on  the  27th,  of  April,  near  Captina. 
The  better  class  of  the  frontiersmen  made  earnest  protest  ag;ainst  the 
outrageous  act,  but  Cresap  and  his  brutal  band  were  proud  of  their 
crime.  The  next  day  Cresap  and  his  followers  made  an  attack  upon 
a  party  of  Shawnees  who  were  returning  from  a  trading  expedition 
to  Pittsburg,  and  killed  one  and  wounded  two  of  the  Indians.  One 
of  Cresap's  men  was  also  wounded.  Among  the  men  who  were  with 
Cresap  when  these  outrages  were  committed  was  George  Rodgers 
Clark,  then  twenty-one  years  old,  and  who  a  few  years  later  became 
famous  as  an  explorer  and  leader  of  the  military  expeditions  that 
won  the  great  Northwestern  territory  for  Virginia. 

Cresap's  dastardly  acts  were  followed  in  a  few  days  by  the  com- 
mission of  a  crime  against  friendly  Indians  that  was  more  revolting 
thai*  anything  that  had  previously  occurred  on  the  border.  It  hap- 
pened on  the  30th  of  April,  three  days  after  the  killing  of  the  Shaw- 
nees by  Cresap;  and  among  the  victims  were  a  brother  and  sister 
of  Logan,  the  great  Mingo  chief,  who  had  been  a  staunch  friend  of 
the  whites.  The  scene  of  the  massacre  was  near  the  mouth  of  Yel- 
low Creek,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  at  the  house  of  a 
man  named  Baker.  Lord  Dunmore,  in  his  report  to  the  Earl  of  Dart- 
mouth, secretary  of  state  for  the  colonies,  made  on  the  24th  of  De- 
cember, 1774,  gave  the  following  account  of  the  deplorable  incident: 

"A  party  of  Indians,  with  their  women,  happening  to  encamp  on 
the  side  of  the  Ohio  opposite  to  the  house  of  one  Baker,  who, 
together  with  a  man  of  the  name  of  Gratehouse,  called  to,  and  invited 
the  Indians  to  come  over  and  drink  with  them ;  two  men  and  as  many 
women  came  accordingly,  and  were,  at  first,  well  received,  but  Baker 
and  Gratehouse,  who  by  this  time  had  collected  other  People,  con- 
trived to  entoxicate  the  Indians,  and  they  then  Murdered  them. 
Soon  after  two  more  came  over  from  the  Indian  Party  in  search  of 
their  Companions,  and  these  met  with  the  same  fate.  The  remainder 
of  the  Indian  Party  growing  uneasy  at  not  seeing  their  friends 
return,  five  of  them  got  into  a  Canoe  to  go  over  to  the  house,  but 
they  were  soon  fired  upon  bv  Baker  and  Gratehouse,  and  two  of 
the  Indians  killed  and  the  other  three  wounded." 

Previous  to  the  killing  of  Logan's  sister  and  brother,  a  council 
of  the  Indians  had  been  held,  at  which  many  of  the  warriors  urged 


and  Southwest  Virginia  267 

that  all  the  Ohio  tribes  should  unite  and  resist  the  continued  aggres- 
sions and  intrusions  of  the  "Long  Knives/'  this  name  then  being 
applied  to  the  Virginians.  Logan  was  present  and  took  a  conspic- 
uous part  in  the  council,  and  urgently  insisted  that  peace  should  be 
maintained  with  the  whites.  He  conceded  that  his  people  had  been 
outrageously  wronged  by  the  pale  faces,  but  he  told  the  Indians  they 
had  also  been  guilty  of  many  outrages  upon  their  white  foes.  And 
he  also  asserted  that  the  red  men  could  accomplish  nothing  more 
than  harrass  and  distress  the  border  settlers;  and,  that,  resenting 
such  acts,  the  Virginians  would  come  in  great  numbers  and  drive  the 
Indians  from  Ohio.  He  was  an  orator,  his  oratory  prevailed,  and 
the  hatchet  for  the  time  being  was  buried;  but  the  Yellow  Creek 
massacre  turned  Logan  into  a  veritable  fiend.  When  he  was 
informed  of  the  foul  murder  of  his  brother  and  sister,  he  raised  his 
hatchet  aloft  and  made  a  vow  that  he  would  not  cease  to  wield  it 
until  he  had  taken  ten  white  scalps  for  each  one  that  had  been  torn 
from  the  heads  of  his  kindred.  Logan's  sister  was  the  Indian  wife 
of  Colonel  John  Gibson,  who  was  born  in  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania, 
and  who  had  participated  in  the  previous  Indian  wars.  At  the 
commencement  of  Pontiac's  War  Gibson  was  captured,  but  was 
saved  from  being  burned  at  the  stake  by  adoption  by  a  squaw.  He 
was  released  from  captivity  by  Boquet's  expedition  in  I76i,  but  con- 
tinued to  have  intimate  relations  with  the  Indians,  even  taking 
Logan's  sister  for  a  wife.  After  Dunmore's  War,  he  espoused  the 
Revoluntionary  cause  and  commanded  the  13th  Virginia  regiment; 
and  after  the  Revolution  was  ended  he  held  several  important  civil 
offices  in  his  State  and  in  the  Nation.  His  Indian  wife  had  an  infant 
child  with  her  when  she  was  murdered  by  Baker  and  Greathouse ; 
and  the  child  was  sent  to  Pennsylvania,  where  its  father  was  then 
residing  as  an  Indian  trader.  What  became  of  the  child,  history 
does  not  relate. 

Immediately  after  the  Yellow  Creek  tragedy  the  Mingos  sent 
runners  to  the  Shawnees,  the  Delawares,  and  other  tribes,  to  inform 
them  of  the  outrages  perpetrated  by  Cresap  and  Greathouse ;  and 
urging  a  war  of  vengeance  against  the  whites.  Logan  gathered  a 
band  of  Mingos  together  and  began  to  make  bloody  incursions  into 
the  settlements.  His  first  scalping  expedition  was  made  into  Penn- 
sylvania and  the  Panhandle  section  of  Virginia,  now  West  Virginia ; 
and  he  took  thirteen  scalps,  six  of  which  were  taken  from  the  heads 
of  little  children.  He  and  his  band  were  pursued  by  Captain  Francis 
McClure    with    a    company    of    Virginia    militia.       McClure    was 


268  History  of  Tazewell  County 

ambushed  by  the  Indians,  who  killed  and  scalped  him,  and  shot 
Lieutenant  Samuel  Kinkhead  through  the  arm. 


While  the  horrible  calamities  were  happening  along  and  on  the 
Ohio  River  the  inhabitants  of  the  Clinch,  Holston  and  Upper  New 
River  vallej^s  were  diligently  occupied  with  preparation  for  the 
troubles  they  apprehended  would  soon  come  upon  them.  Colonel 
William  Preston,  as  county  lieutenant,  had  command  of  all  the  mili- 
tary organizations  of  Fincastle  County;  and  Major  Arthur  Camp- 
bell, as  a  subordinate  of  Colonel  Preston,  was  in  charge  of  all  the 
militia  and  other  military  organizations  on  the  west  side  of  New 
River.  Preston  was  then  living  at  Smithfield,  his  home,  just  west 
of  Blacksburg;  and  Campbell  was  living  at  Royal  Oak,  just  east 
of  the  present  Marion,  Virginia.  Both  of  these  men  were  eminently 
fitted  for  the  positions  they  were  called  upon  to  fill,  and  had  acquired 
much  experience  with  the  habits  and  methods  of  the  Indians  in  war 
and  in  peace.  This  was  fully  proven  by  the  successful  manner  in 
which  they  dicharged  their  duties  in  the  war  that  was  then  imminent 
with  the  Indians.  They  had  to  organize  the  inhabitants  of  Fincastle 
County  into  military  bodies,  and  establish  a  line  of  defence  reaching 
from  New  River,  on  through  the  Clinch  and  Powell's  valleys,  to 
Cumberland  Gap,  on  the  northwest  side  of  the  county;  and  from 
Cumberland  Gap  to  the  present  North  Carolina  line  on  the  south- 
west border.  Fortunately  the  men  who  were  to  perform  military 
service,  as  volunteers  or  drafted  men,  were  all  of  the  pioneer  type, 
trained  hunters  and  woodsmen,  brave  and  strong,  and  ready  to  do  or 
die  for  the  protection  of  their  homes  and  families.  Of  these  splendid 
men  none  were  braver  or  more  efficient  than  the  Tazewell  pioneers. 

The  Ohio  Indians,  chiefly  the  Shawnees,  made  urgent  appeals  to 
the  Cherokees  in  North  Carolina  and  Georgia  to  unite  with  them 
in  a  vigorous  war  against  the  whites;  and  it  required  very  skillful 
management  on  the  part  of  Major  Campbell  of  the  Holston,  and 
leading  men  of  the  Watauga  settlements  to  prevent  the  Cherokees 
from  entering  the  war.  As  it  was,  a  few  of  the  first  outrages  com- 
mitted were  by  mixed  bands  of  Shawnees  and  Cherokees,  the  most 
notable  being  the  murder  of  the  three  young  men,  Boone  and  Rus- 
sell and  Drake,  in  Powell's  Valley,  in  1773. 

It  was  the  belief  of  all  the  men  of  military  experience,  especially 
of  those  who  had  fouglit  the  Indians,  that,  if  the  Shawnees  invaded 
Fincastle  County  with  any  considerable  force,  they  would  come  from 
their  towns  in  Ohio  by  way  of  Big  Sandy  River  and  its  tributaries. 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


269 


This  would  be  the  most  direct  route,  and  the  one  where  the  savages 
would  encounter  no  resistance  until  they  reached  the  Clinch  Valley. 
If  they  did  come  the  Sandy  River  route,  they  would' travel  up  Tug 
River,  or  the  Dry  Fork  of  Tug,  or  up  the  Louisa  River;  and  by 
following  either  one  of  these  three  streams  to  their  source,  they 
would  enter  the  Clinch  Valley  on  territory  now  embraced  in  Taze- 
well County.  For  this  reason  the  military  authorities  of  Fincastle 
County  were  extremely  anxious  to  make  the  line  of  defence  in  Taze- 
well County  as  strong  as  possible.  The  Tazewell  pioneers  had  the 
work  pretty  well  done  before  the  conflict  with  the  Indians  began. 


The  white  cross  shows  the  location  of  William  Wynne's  fort.  The 
beautiful  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Geo.  A.  Maitin  is  shown  just  east  of 
the  white  cross. 

There  were  three  substantial  forts  already  erected  on  the  headwaters 
of  the  Clinch.  Thomas  Witten's  fort  at  the  Crab  Orchard,  Rees 
Bowen's  at  Maiden  Spring,  and  William  Wynne's  at  Locust  Hill. 

Great  excitement,  and  in  some  instances  consternation,  prevailed 
in  all  the  settlements  west  of  New  River.  Colonel  Preston  became 
deeply  concerned  about  John  Floyd's  surveying  party  that  was 
then  actively  at  work  in  Kentucky ;  and  sent  a  messenger  to  Captain 
Wiliam  Russell,  urging  him  to  send  scouts  to  warn  Floyd  and  all 
the  surveying  parties  of  the  impending  danger;  and  to  tell  them  to 
come  home  as  quickly  as  possible. 

Captain  Russell,  who  was  then  at  his  fort  at  Castle's  Woods,  on 
Sunday,  June  26th,  wrote  Colonel  Preston:  "I  am  Sensible  good 
Sir  of  your  Uncommon  concern  for  the  Security  of  Capt.  Floyd  and 
the  Gentlemen  with  him,  and  I  sincerely  Sympathise  with  you,  lest 
they  should  fall  a  Prey,  to  such  Inhuman,  Blood  thirsty  Devils,  as  I 
have  so  lately  suffered  by ;  but  may  God  of  his  Infinite  Mercy,  Shield 
him,  and  Company,  from  the  present  impending  Danger,  and  could 


270  History  of  Tazewell  County 

we  (thro'  Providence)  be  a  means  of  preserving  such  Valuable  Mem- 
bers, by  sending  out  Scouts,  such  a  procedure  would  Undoutedly  be, 
of  the  most  lasting,  and  secret  Satisfaction  to  us ;  and  the  Country 
in  general.  I  have  engaged  to  start  on  the  occasion,  two  of  the  best 
Hands  I  think  of,  Danl.  Boone,  and  Michl.  Stoner;  who  have 
Engaged  to  search  the  Country,  as  low  as  the  falls,  and  to  return  by 
way  of  GasiDcrs  Lick,  on  Cumberland,  and  through  Cumberland  Gap. 
So  that  by  the  assiduity  of  these  men,  if  it  is  not  too  late,  I  hope 
the  Gentlemen  will  be  apprised  of  the  eminent  Danger  they  are 
Daily  in." 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  two  fearless  pioneer  patriots, 
Boone  and  Stoner,  lost  no  time  in  starting  on  their  rescue  mission. 
They  journeyed  into  the  wilderness  regions  of  Kentucky,  with  which 
they  were  already  pretty  familiar.  At  Harrodsburg  they  came  upon 
Colonel  James  Harrod  and  thirtj'^  men,  who  were  busily  engaged  in 
building  a  village  of  cabins.  This  was  in  July;  and  on  the  14th 
of  the  preceding  Ma}^,  according  to  a  note  in  Hanson's  journal,  John 
Floyd  and  his  survej'ing  party  had  visited  Colonel  Harrod  and 
his  party  at  this  same  place.  Boone  and  Stoner  informed  Harrod 
and  his  part}'^  of  their  danger  and  they  made  no  delay  in  starting 
to  the  settlments  east  of  the  Cumberland  Mountains.  Then  the  two 
scouts  started  out  to  find  Floyd,  and  came  upon  another  surveyin*?; 
party  at  Fontainebleau.  After  warning  them,  Boone  and  Stoner 
proceeded  to  the  Kentucky  River,  where  they  found  Floyd,  and  he 
started  immediately  for  the  settlements  in  the  Clinch  Valley. 
Arriving  at  Captain  Russell's  fort  and  finding  that  Russell  was  pre- 
IDaring.  with  his  company,  to  join  the  militiary  expedition  to  Point 
Pleasant,  Floyd  proceeded  to  Colonel  Preston's  home  at  Smithfield, 
reaching  that  place  on  the  13th  of  August,  1774.  Boone  and  Stoner 
proceeded  to  the  falls  of  the  Ohio  River,  where  they  found  another 
company  of  surveyors  to  whom  they  gave  warning,  and  then  started 
on  the  return  trip  to  the  Clinch  Valley.  They  arrived  safely  at 
Captain  Russell's,  having  traveled  eight  hundred  miles  in  sixty-one 
days  on  foot.  There  were  more  than  a  dozen  men,  of  other  survey- 
ing parties,  that  the  scouts  did  not  find,  and  they  had  to  be  left 
to  their  fate.  Two  of  these,  Hancock  Taylor  and  James  Strother, 
were  killed  by  the  Indians  while  they  were  traveling  in  a  canoe. 
It  is  presumed  that  the  others  escaped,  as  Captain  Russell  reported 
to  Colonel  Preston  that  "John  Green  and  three  others  of  Mr.  Tay- 
lor's Company  have  Arrived  at  Clinch."  Two  of  these  were  John 
Bell  and  Abraham  Hempinstall;  the  other  man's  name  has  not 
been  preserved. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  271 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

FRONTIERS  OF   FINCASTLE   COUNTY  INVADED  BY  INDIANS. 

In  the  spring  of  1774  Captain  William  Russell  went  to  Williams- 
burg to  acquaint  Governor  Dunmore  with  the  serious  condition  of 
affairs  on  the  borders  of  Fincastle  County;  and  he  returned  with 
instructions  from  the  governor,  directed  to  Colonel  Preston  and  the 
other  officers  of  the  county,  to  take  proper  steps  for  protecting  the 
borders,  and  to  urge  the  inhabitants  not  to  abandon  their  homes  on 
the  frontiers. 

On  the  25th  of  June,  1774,  a  council  of  the  militia  officers  of 
Fincastle  Coimty  was  held  at  the  county  seat,  the  Lead  Mines,  and 
at  this  council  it  was  determined  that  Lieutenant  Colonel  Christian 
should  march  with  several  companies  of  militia  to  the  settlements  on 
Clinch  River,  and  from  thence  send  out  ranging  parties  to  discover 
and  attack  any  parties  of  Indians  that  might  possibly  come  up 
Sandy  River  to  distress  the  settlers  on  the  Clinch.  This  action  was 
taken  in  compliance  with  orders  from  Governor  Dunmore,  who 
seemed  anxious  to  protect  the  inhabitants  of  the  Holston  and  Clinch 
valleys  from  incursions  by  the  Cherokees  and  Shawnees.  In  pur- 
suance of  this  plan  of  action,  Colonel  Preston,  who  was  then  at 
Fort  Chiswell,  in  the  present  Wythe  County,  on  June  27th  1774, 
sent  the  following  instructions  to  Colonel  William  Christian: 

"I  have  given  Orders  to  six  Captains  to  raise  twenty  men  out  of 
each  of  their  Companys  either  as  Volunteers  or  by  Draught;  which 
with  what  men  can  be  engag'd  from  other  companies,  will  make  up 
the  party  One  Hundred  &  fifty  men  besides  Officers. 

"You  are  to  take  the  Command  of  this  party,  Captains  Crockett 
&  Campbell  will  go  with  you  &  each  will  have  fifty  men  beside  the 
Necessary  Officers,  the  remaining  fifty  will  be  under  your  Imme- 
diate Command  as  a  Company,  and  as  One  subaltern  will  be  enough 
I  am  in  hopes  Ensign  William  Buchanan  will  answer  that  purpose. 

"You  will  endeavor  to  procure  ammunition  and  Provisions  for 
this  service.  I  expect  a  good  many  of  the  soldiers  will  take  their 
Horses  to  carry  the  provisions,  for  which  they  ought  to  be  made  an 
allowance,  this  allowance  &  the  value  of  the  provisions  or  what  ever 
else  may  be  necessary  for  this  Service  you  will  please  to  have  Set- 
tled by  two  honest  men  on  Oath.     *     *     *     * 


272  History  of  Tazewell  County 

"I  have  appointed  the  Soldiers  to  meet  you  at  the  Town  House 
on  Holston  early  next  week,  from  whence  you  are  to  begin  your 
march  to  Clinch  &  from  thence  over  Cumberland  Mountain  by  any 
Gap  or  pass  you  think  proper  that  Leades  to  the  head  branches  of 
the  Kentucky  &  tliere  Range  together  or  in  separate  parties  &  at 
such  places  as  you  judge  most  likely  to  discover  and  repulse  the 
Enemy  on  their  Approach  to  our  Settlements.  It  is  believed  there 
is  a  large  party  of  Cherokees  on  their  way  to  or  from  the  Shawnees 
Towns,  if  you  should  fall  in  with  this  Company  &  know  them  I  must 
leave  it  to  your  own  Prudence  in  what  manner  to  treat  them,  tho  it 
is  generally  Said  that  these  Indians  are  about  to  Join  our  Enemies, 
yet  as  this  Report  is  not  reduced  to  a  Certainty,  I  cannot  give  any 
Particular  orders  herein.  You  will  Probably  be  able  to  Judge  by 
the  Manner  of  their  approach  or  rather  Circumstances  that  cannot 
now  be  foreseen,  what  Indians  they  are  &  then  you  will  act  Accord- 
ingl)^,  but  upon  the  whole  I  would  earnestly  Recommend  the  utmost 
caution  and  Discretion  in  this  very  nice  &  important  part  of  your 
duty.  Should  this  party  of  Cherokees,  which  is  generally  said  to  be 
about  Seventy  in  number,  come  in  a  Hostile  manner  there  is  no 
doubt  but  they  will  be  Accompanyd  by  a  number  of  Shawnees  or 
rather  Enemy  Indians  which  may  render  them  formidable  to  your 
party. 

"I  would  therefore  Recommend  your  keeping  out  some  active 
men  on  the  right  &  left,  in  the  front  &  Rear  even  to  the  distance 
of  a  mile  on  Your  march  and  at  Camp  to  keep  out  a  number  of 
Centinals,  to  prevent  a  Surprize  which  is  too  often  attended  with 
fatal  Consequences,  this  above  all  things  ought  ever  to  be  Guarded 
against,  nor  Should  this  Part  of  the  duty  be  Neglected  or  Relaxed 
on  any  occasion  whatsoever." 

Colonel  Preston  then  recommended  that  Colonel  Christian  should 
consult  his  officers  in  connection  with  important  matters  connected 
with  the  expedition;  and  expressed  the  hope  that  the  officers,  who 
were  required  and  commanded  to  obey  their  commanding  officer, 
would  be  alert  and  obedient  in  the  performance  of  duty.  He  also 
directed  that  the  officers  should  keep  good  order  and  discipline  in 
their  companies,  and  "be  unanimous  and  Friendly  amongst  them- 
selves that  every  Intention  of  Sending  out  the  Party  may  be  fully 
answered."  Colonel  Preston  closed  these  orders  with  the  following 
stirring  appeal  to  the  patriotism  and  military  spirit  of  the  officers 
and  men  of  the  expedition: 


and  Southwest  Virginia  273 

"As  it  is  expected  that  you  will  have  none  but  choice  officers  & 
men  on  this  little  Expedition:  therefore  the  Eyes  of  the  Country 
will  be  upon  you:  So  that  I  have  no  doubt  but  every  person  in  his 
station  will  exert  himself  to  answer  the  wishes  &  expectations  of 
his  Country,  and  serve  it  as  much  as  in  his  power  lies. 

"That  Heaven  may  give  you  Success  &  Safety  it  is  the  Sincere 
wish  ^ 

of  Sir  your  most  Humble  Servant 

Wm.  Preston. 
Colo.  William  Christian" 

These  military  orders,  issued  by  the  county  lieutenant  of  Fin- 
castle  County,  will  be  read  with  interest,  no  doubt,  by  all  persons 
who  are  descendants  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Tazewell  County; 
and  should  be  interesting  to  those  who  care  to  acquaint  themselves 
with  its  early  history.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  first  military 
expedition  sent  to  the  Clinch  Valley,  in  the  first  war  in  which  its 
inhabitants  were  to  take  an  active  part,  was  ordered  to  march  to 
the  lower  sections  of  the  Valley,  though  the  three  principal  passes 
used  by  the  Indians  when  they  came  by  the  way  of  the  Sandy  Val- 
ley were  at  the  headwaters  of  the  Louisa,  the  Dry  Fork,  and  Tug 
River.  All  of  these  passes  were  in  territory  that  was  subsequently 
embraced  in  Tazewell  County.  This  indicates  that  the  inliabitants 
of  the  Lower  Clinch  Valley  were  more  seriously  threatened,  or  were 
more  alarmed  than  the  peoiDle  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Clinch,  or 
that  they  were  not  as  well  prepared  to  resist  savage  invasions  as 
were  our  pioneer  ancestors. 

The  exhortation  of  Colonel  Preston  to  the  officers,  to  be  "unani- 
mous and  friendly  among  themselves,"  warrants  the  belief  that 
jealousies  and  rivalries  had  previously  existed,  or  were  then  being- 
cultivated,  among  the  officers  connected  with  the  expedition.  In 
fact,  such  a  feeling  had  been  manifested  by  and  between  certain  of 
the  officers  from  the  Holston  Valley,  and  possibly  by  some  of  those 
from  the  New  River  and  Reed  Creek  sections.  There  was  nothing 
of  this  kind  shown  among  the  Tazewell  pioneers.  None  of  them 
were  concerned  about  holding  official  positions.  Their  chief  concern 
was  the  protection  of  the  homes  they  had  struggled  to  erect  in  the 
wilderness  country.  In  a  letter  written  by  Captain  Russell  to 
Colonel  Preston  after  the  arrival  of  the  expedition  at  Castle's  Woods, 

he  showed  some  feeling,  because  he  thought  he  and  others  in  the 
T.H.— IS 


274  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Clinch  Valley  had  not  received  proper  consideration  in  being  ap- 
pointed to  commands  and  regularly  enlisted  in  the  service.  He  said: 
"I  am  sorry  to  find  Sir,  I  can't  be  Indulged  to  serve  my  Country 
with  a  Captns  Command,  as  early  as  others;  who  are  but  new 
Hands."  In  another  part  of  the  letter  he  said:  "Was  I  to  Keep 
a  Commission,  in  hopes  of  Benefiting  my  Country,  or  selfe,  and  my 
hopes  was,  from  a  set  of  Gentlemen;  who,  were  all  desireous  to 
serve  as  well  as  my  selfe;  I  am  assured  against  such  powerful  Con- 
nexions, as  are  upon  the  Holston,  and  New  River  Waters,  It  wood  be 
useless  for  me  to  mention  one  Word  about  it." 

Captain  Russell  was  not  much  of  a  speller,  and  he  was  ill- 
versed  in  the  art  of  punctuation  and  the  proper  use  of  capital  let- 
ters ;  but  he  knew  how  to  politely  rebuke  what  he  believed  to  be 
favoritism  and  nepotism.  Possibly  he  had  been  wrought  to  this 
temper  by  remembrance  of  the  manner  in  which  the  coimty  offices 
had  been  distributed  when  the  county  of  Fincastle  was  organized. 
Certain  families  "upon  the  Holston  and  the  New  River  Waters" 
were  apportioned  all  the  offices  of  honor  and  profit;  and  Colonel 
Preston  was,  at  the  time  Russell  wrote  him,  county  lieutenant  through 
appointment  by  the  governor,  and  both  sheriff  and  surveyor  of 
Fincastle  County  by  election  by  the  county  court,  of  which  court  he 
was  also  a  member.  In  those  days  certain  families  in  Virginia, 
under  a  royal  government,  were  potential  in  most  of  the  counties, 
and  such  has  been  the  case  in  nearly  all  the  counties  of  the  Com- 
monwealth since  a  republican  form  of  government  was  established 
in  1776.  This  was  a  very  natural  condition,  and  it  always  obtains 
where  organized  society  is  found.  The  organization  of  what  we 
call  civil  govei-nment  has  ever  been  brought  about  by  the  energy  and 
zeal  of  a  few  dominating  spirits,  who  necessarily  become  self-con- 
stituted leaders  of  the  government,  or  are  made  such  by  the  people. 
This  was  the  case  when  our  Federal  and  State  governments  were 
formed,  and  the  records  show  that  it  was  the  same  when  the  great 
county  of  Tazewell  was  organized  as  a  distinct  civil  and  military 
community. 

The  first  week  in  July,  1774,  in  obedience  to  orders,  Colonel 
Christian  assembled  his  command  of  three  companies,  of  fifty  men 
each,  besides  officers,  at  Town  House.  At  this  point  lived  Captain 
James  Thompson,  who  was  a  grandson  of  Colonel  James  Patton. 
Thompson  had  a  small  jorivate  fort  and  the  name  of  his  home, 
"Town  House,"  was  given  because  it  had  been  selected  by  Colonel 


and  Southwest  Virginia  275 

Patton  as  a  suitable  place  for  a  settlement  or  town,  just  as  he  had 
selected  Draper's  Meadows  for  such  a  purpose.  Captain  William 
Campbell  was  in  command  of  one  of  the  companies,  Captain  Walter 
Crockett  of  another,  and  Colonel  Christian,  in  compliance  with 
orders,  took  charge  of  the  third  company.  Campbell  then  lived  at 
Aspinvale,  the  present  Seven  Mile  Ford,  and  Crockett  lived  on  the 
headwaters  of  the  South  Fork  of  Holston  River,  both  living  within 
the  limits  of  the  present  Smyth  County. 

Soon  after  commencing  his  march  from  Town  House  for  the 
Clinch,  Colonel  Christian  deemed  it  expedient  to  make  a  departure 
from  the  specific  orders  of  Colonel  Preston  to  march  with  all  his 
force  "to  tlie  Clinch  and  from  thence  over  Cumberland  Mountain 
*  *  *  to  the  head  branches  of  the  Kentucky."  From  a  point 
somewhere  near  Abingdon,  on  the  9th  of  July,  Christian  sent  a 
messenger,  with  a  written  report  of  the  movements  of  his  command, 
to  Colonel  Preston.  Among  the  important  matters  reported,  the 
following  is  found: 

"On  Thursday  last  Mr.  Doack's  letter  to  Crockett  was  shown 
to  me  at  Cedar  Creek  about  9  miles  on  this  Side  of  Stalnakers.  I 
thought  it  best  to  send  Crockett  off  with  40  men  to  the  head  of  Sandy 
creek,  that  the  reed  creek  and  head  of  Holston  people  might  know 
where  to  Send  to  him  in  case  any  attack  should  be  made,  that  he 
might  waylay  or  follow  the  enemy.  *  *  *  Yesterday  I  heard  a 
report  that  50  Indians  were  seen  at  Sandy  creek  but  as  it  came  thro 
several  hands  it  may  not  be  true." 

There  were  several  causes  for  this  change  in  the  disposition  of 
the  men  under  his  command.  The  day  previous,  the  8th  of  July, 
Captain  Dan  Smith,  who  had  a  fort  at  Elk  Garden,  and  who  had 
charge  of  the  line  of  defence  in  the  Upper  Clinch  Valley,  wrote  to 
Colonel  Preston,  reporting  an  alarming  condition  at  the  head  of  the 
north  fork  of  Clinch  and  Bluestone.  He  said:  "The  constant 
Rumor  of  the  Indians  being  just  ready  to  fall  on  the  Inhabitants 
hath  scared  away  almost  the  whole  settlement  at  the  head  of  the 
north  fork  of  Clinch  and  Bluestone.  I  am  sorry  to  find  that  the 
people  are  so  scary  and  that  there  are  so  many  propagators  of  false 
reports  in  the  country." 

Captain  Smith  then  reported  that  the  false  rumors  were  causing 
"timorous  people  to  run  away."  He  said:  "This  the  people  at  the 
head  of  the  river  did  before  I  got  the  least  notice  of  their  intention 
to  start.     The  men  have  said  they  will  return  again  after  carrying 


276  History  of  Tazewell  County 

their  wives  and  children  to  a  place  of  safety;  If  they  do  'twill  be 
more  than  I  expect.  They  alledge  as  an  excuse  for  their  going 
away  that  there  was  no  Scout  down  Sandy  Creek."  Captain  Smith 
admitted  the  charge  was  true  that  there  had  been  no  scout  down 
Sandy  Creek,  but  tried  to  place  the  responsibility  for  this  neglect 
upon  James  Maxwell,  to  whom  he  said  lie  had  entrusted  the  duty. 
Smith  charged  that,  instead  of  looking  after  the  matter,  James 
Maxwell  had  "gone  down  to  Botetourt  to  see  his  family, — and  whose 
return  is  not  expected  shortly;"  and  tliat  James  Maxwell  had  left 
the  scouting  matter  in  the  hands  of  his  brother,  Thomas  Maxwell. 
It  seems  that  James  Maxwell  had  notified  Smith  of  the  arrangement 
with  his  brother  and  that  Smith  had  acquiesced,  for  he  further  re- 
ported to  Colonel  Preston  about  James  Maxwell's  non-performance 
of  duty: 

"As  he  lived  most  convenient  to  the  head  of  Sandy  Creek  I  con- 
sulted him  with  regard  to  scouts  that  should  go  down  that  water 
course.  His  brother  Thomas  was  tlie  one  pitched  upon.  On  their 
return  from  tlie  first  trip,  altho  they  brought  no  accounts  of  Indians, 
As  your  letter  of  the  20th  ult.  came  to  hand  about  that  time  I  sent 
two  scouts  down  a  river  called  Louisa,  and  at  the  recommendation  of 
Mr.  Th.  Maxwell  appointed  one,  Israel  Harmon  to  act  with  him 
down  Sandy  Creek,  for  it  was  natural  for  me,  as  I  reposed  much 
confidence  in  Mr.  James  Maxwell  to  pay  regard  to  what  his  Brother 
Thomas  advised.  I  am  now  to  inform  you  that  Mr.  Thomas  Maxwell 
proved  Highly  unworthy  the  confidence  I  reposed  in  him,  so  much 
so  that  I  think  his  behaviour  requires  that  he  should  be  called  to 
account  at  the  next  court  martial,  as  I've  just  been  informed  there 
really  is  a  militia  law  yet  subsisting;  for  instead  of  going  do^vn 
Sandy  Creek  as  I  strictly  charged  him  to  do  he  went  to  the  head 
of  the  river,  reported  the  danger  they  were  in,  and  assisted  Jacob 
Harmon  to  move  into  the  New  River  settlement." 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that  Captain  Dan  Smtih  entirely  misunder- 
stood the  character  and  quality  of  the  men  he  was  censuring  so  bit- 
terly, and  thoroughly  misapprehended  their  real  worth.  They  had 
no  garrisoned  fort  at  hand,  as  Captain  Smith  had  at  Elk  Garden,  in 
which  they  could  easily  place  their  wives  and  children  for  safety; 
and  they  were  living  along  one  of  the  most  frequented  and  most 
dangerous  trails  the  Indians  used  when  they  made  hostile  visits  to 
the  settlements.  The  pioneer  Maxwells  and  Harmans  were  as  brave 
and  true  as  any  of  the  splendid  men  who  were  of  the  first  settlers  in 


and  Southwest  Virginia  277 

the  Clinch  Valley.  At  least,  one  of  tliem,  the  one  Smith  most 
severely  condemned,  Thomas  Maxwell,  by  his  future  actions  hero- 
ically disproved  the  aspersions  Smith  cast  upon  his  character.  Smith 
was  reputed  to  be  a  very  courageous  man ;  and  it  may  be  that  he  was 
so  fearless  that  caution  and  prudence  in  others  to  him  had  the 
appearance  of  cowardice.  But  if  Smith  ever  came  in  contact  with 
hostile  Indians,  there  is  nothing  of  record  to  show  it. 

Thomas  Maxwell  was  no  "timorous"  man.  Dressed  in  hunting 
shirt,  with  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife  in  belt ;  and  with  his  trusty 
mountain  rifle  on  his  shoulder,  he  marched  to  and  fought  at  King's 
Mountain.  After  the  battle  at  that  place,  which  was  fought  on  the 
7th  of  October,  1780,  Thomas  Maxwell  settled  on  the  North  Fork 
of  Holston  River,  near  Broad  Ford,  in  the  present  Smyth  County. 
In  the  spring  of  1781,  a  small  band  of  Shawnee  Indians  made  an 
inroad  into  Bui-ke's  Garden  and  made  the  wife  and  children  of 
Thomas  Ingles  captives.  Ingles  went  immediately  to  the  North 
Fork  of  Holston,  where  he  found  Captain  Thomas  Maxwell  engaged 
in  drilling  a  squad  of  fourteen  militia.  Maxwell  and  his  men  went 
with  Ingles  to  Burke's  Garden,  and  from  that  place  trailed  the 
Indians  until  they  overtook  them  on  Tug  River.  In  the  attack  that 
was  made  to  rescue  the  captives  Captain  Maxwell  was  the  only  one 
of  the  white  men  killed.  The  pass  where  the  encounter  took  place 
has  ever  since  been  called  Maxwell's  Gap,  where  the  "timorous" 
man  rests  in  a  heroe's  grave. 

In  this  letter  to  Colonel  Preston,  wherein  Smith  accuses  the  Max- 
wells and  other  settlers  "at  the  head  of  the  north  fork  of  Clinch 
and  Bluestone"  with  cowardice  and  neglect  of  duty,  he  makes  con- 
fession that  his  own  men,  in  the  Elk  Garden  settlement,  were 
alarmed  and  asks  that  a  company  of  soldiers  be  sent  there  to  relieve 
their  fears.  He  says:  "As  the  spirits  of  the  men  that  are  yet  left 
in  my  company  Are  not  in  very  high  flow,  I  do  think  that  a  Company 
of  men  stationed  on  the  river  if  there  was  not  over  20  would  greatly 
encourage  the  settlers,  if  they  did  nothing  but  Assist  to  build  forts 
in  this  busy  time  of  laying  by  Corn.  I  really  shall  be  greatly  pleased 
if  you  should  be  of  the  same  Opinion."  Captain  Smith  was  a  little 
inconsistent,  to  say  the  least,  in  rebuking  the  Maxwells  and  Harmans 
for  showing  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  their  families,  and  expressing 
no  condemnation  for  the  timid  settlers  of  his  own  community. 

Subsequent  events  proved  that  the  pass  at  the  head  of  Sandy 
Creek  was  the  most  important  and  dangerous  one  on  the  frontier  west 


278  History  of  Tazewell  County 

of  New  River;  and  that  the  Maxwells  and  Harmans  had  not  been 
mistaken  when  they  decided  it  was  too  dangerous  to  let  their  fami- 
lies remain  in  its  vicinity.  Consternation  prevailed  among  the  inhabi- 
tants in  Rich  Valley,  on  Walker's  Creek,  at  the  head  of  the  Middle 
P'ork  of  Holston  and  in  the  Reed  Creek  Valley.  Captain  Robert 
Doack,  who  was  an  officer  in  the  Fincastle  militia,  and  who  was  then 
living  in  the  neighborhood  of  old  Mt.  Airy,  in  the  present  Wythe 
County,  had  been  ordered  to  draft  a  company  of  men  and  march 
them  to  the  heads  of  Sandy  Creek  and  Clinch.  On  the  12th  of  July, 
1774,  four  days  after  the  letter  was  written  by  Captain  Smith 
reporting  the  supposed  delinquencies  of  the  Maxwells  and  Harmans, 
Captain  Doack  addressed  a  letter  to  Colonel  Preston,  from  which 
the  following  is  quoted: 

"Sir — AgTeeable  to  your  Order  I  Drafted  men  &  was  in  Read- 
iness to  March  to  the  heads  of  Sandy  Creek  &  Clinch,  When  some 
tracts  were  seen  in  this  neighbourhood  supposed  to  be  Indians  which 
Colo.  Christian  hearing  sent  Capt.  Crockett  to  where  I  was.  Ordered 
&  Directed  me  to  range  near  the  Inhabitants.  We  were  informd, 
that  sixteen  Indians  were  seen  on  Walkers  Creek  which  I  went  down 
with  25  men  but  not  finding  any  Signs  &  hearing  the  News  Contra- 
dicted Dischargd  them.  The  people  were  all  in  Garison  from  Fort 
Chiswell  to  the  Head  of  Holston  &  in  great  Confusion.  They  are 
fled  from  the  Rich  Valley  &  Walkers  Creek.  Some  are  Building 
forts  they  have  Began  to  build  at  my  Father's,  James  Davis',  & 
Gasper  Kinders.  I  think  they  are  not  strong  enough  for  three  forts 
but  might  do  for  two.  If  you  thought  proper  to  Order  that  a  Ser- 
geant Command  might  be  Stationed  at  each  of  these  places  on  Mis- 
chief being  Done  Or  at  any  two  of  them  I  think  it  would  Keep  this 
part  of  the  Country  from  leaving  it  &  would  enable  them  to  save 
their  Crops  this  I  humbly  Conceive  would  be  a  protection  &  encour- 
agement &  on  an  alarm  when  people  fled  to  the  forts  with  their 
Familys  those  men  would  always  be  Ready  to  follow  the  Enemy." 

With  such  conditions  of  alarm  and  confusion  existing  in  the  more 
populous  settlements  of  the  Holston  and  Reed  Creek  valleys, 
because  of  the  apprehension  of  Indian  raiding  parties  by  way  of  the 
Sandy  Creek  passes,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  men  on  the  extreme 
frontier  to  remove  their  families  to  places  of  assured  safety.  At 
this  time  there  was  no  reported  disquietude  or  fear  in  the  localities 
where  the  Tazewell  pioneers  had  grouped  themselves  in  communities 


and  Southwest  Virginia  279 

and  built  forts.  The  men  in  the  neighborhoods  where  the  Wynne, 
the  Witten  and  the  Bowen  forts  were  located  were  not  calling  for 
help  or  protection.  The  Harmans,  Peerys,  Wyrmes,  Taylors,  Evans' 
and  other  settlers  in  the  vicinity  of  Wynne's  fort  had  confidence  in 
their  ability  to  meet  and  defeat  any  Indian  bands  that  came  to  their 
neighborhood;  the  Wittens,  Greenups,  Peerys,  Marrs',  and  the 
Cecils,  grouped  near  Wittens  fort ;  and  the  Bowens,  Wards,  Martins, 
Thompsons,  and  others  about  Maiden  Spring,  seem  to  have  been 
inspired  with  the  same  confidence. 

In  compliance  with  the  orders  which  Colonel  Preston  had  given 
him.  Colonel  Christian  marched  promjDtly,  with  ninety  men,  to  Rus- 
sell's fort  on  the  Clinch,  at  Castle's  Woods.  From  that  place,  on 
the  12th  of  July,  1774,  he  wrote  Colonel  Preston  that  he  thought  it 
his  duty  to  send  Captain  Walter  Crockett  and  his  company  "to  cover 
the  inhabitants  that  lie  exposed  to  Sandy  Creek  Pass."  He  further 
suggested  that  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  officers  of  his  command  that 
an  expedition  of  150  or  200  men  should  be  sent  to  the  Ohio,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Scioto,  and  thence  on  forty-five  miles  to  destroy  the 
"Shawnese  Town." 

On  the  12th  of  July,  the  same  day  that  Colonel  Christian  wrote 
to  Colonel  Preston  suggesting  that  an  expedition  should  be  sent  to 
the  Shawnee  towns  in  Ohio,  Governor  Dunmore  forwarded  an  order 
to  Colonel  Andrew  Lewis,  directing  him  to  assemble  a  force  of  men 
from  Botetourt,  Fincastle  and  other  counties,  to  go  on  an  expedition 
to  the  Ohio  Valley  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the  Indians  into  sub- 
jection. Colonel  Lewis  forwarded  Dunmore's  order  to  Colonel  Pres- 
ton, accompanying  it  with  a  letter  in  which  he  said,  in  part:  "The 
governor  from  what  he  wrote  us  has  taken  it  for  granted  that  we 
would  fit  out  an  Expedition  &  has  acted  accordingly.  I  make  no 
doubt  but  he  will  be  as  much  surprised  at  our  backwardness,  as  he 
may  call  it,  as  we  are  at  ye  precipetet  steps  in  ye  other  quarter. 
Dont  fail  to  come  and  let  us  do  something.  I  would  as  matters 
stand  use  great  risque  rather  than  a  miscarrage  should  happen." 
Colonel  Lewis  ordered  Preston,  as  county  lieutenant  of  Fincastle, 
to  enlist  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  or  more,  if  they  could  possibly 
be  raised,  to  go  on  the  expedition.  This  of  course  made  an  end  of 
Christian's  proposition  for  an  expedition  to  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto 
River;  and  immediate  steps  were  taken  to  comply  with  the  orders 
of  Governor  Dunmore.     Colonel  Preston  on  the  20th  of  July,  1774, 


280  History  of  Tazewell  County 

sent  by  special  messenger  from  his  home  at  Smithfield,  a  circular 
letter  to  Colonel  Christian^  in  which  he  said: 

"Inclosed  you  have  a  Copy  of  Lord  Dunmore's  Letter  to  Colo. 
Lewis  of  the  12th  Instant,  In  Consequence  of  which,  the  Colo,  has 
Called  upon  me  to  Attend  on  the  Expedition,  with  at  least,  two  hun- 
dred &  fifty  Men,  or  more  if  they  can  Possibly  be  raised;  This 
Demand  if  Possible  must  be  Complyed  with,  as  it  is  not  Altogether 
our  Quota ;  &  indeed  it  appears  reasonable,  we  should  turn  out 
cheerfully  On  the  present  Occasion  in  Defence  of  our  Lives  and 
Properties  which  have  been  so  long  exposed  to  the  savages.  *  *  * 
We  may  Perhaps  never  have  so  fair  an  Opportunity  of  reducing  our 
old  Inveterate  Enemies  to  Reason,  if  this  should  by  any  means  be 
neglected.  The  Earl  of  Durunore  is  dee2:)ly  ingaged  in  it.  The 
House  of  Burgesses  will  without  all  Doubt  enable  his  Lordship  to 
reward  every  Volunteer  in  a  handsome  manner,  over  and  above  his 
Pay ;  as  the  plunder  of  the  County  will  be  valuable,  &  it  is  said 
the  Shawnees  have  a  great  stock  of  Horses.  Besides  it  will  be  the 
only  method  of  settling  a  lasting  Peace  with  the  Indian  Tribes 
Around  us,  who  on  former  Occasions  have  been  Urged  by  the  Shaw- 
nees to  engage  in  a  War  with  Virginia.  This  useless  People  may 
now  at  last  be  Obliged  to  abandon  their  Country,  their  towns  may 
be  plundered  and  burned,  their  cornfields  destroyed ;  &  they  dis- 
tressed in  such  a  manner  as  will  prevent  them  from  giving  us  any 
future  Trouble;  Therefore  I  hope  tlie  men  will  Readily  &  cheerfully 
engage  in  the  Expedition  as  They  will  not  only  be  conducted  by 
their  own  Officers  but  they  will  be  Assisted  by  a  great  number  of 
Officers  &  soldiers  raised  behind  the  Mountains,  whose  Bravery  they 
cannot  be  Doubtful  of,  while  they  Act  from  the  same  Motive  of  Self 
Defence." 

This  circular  letter  must  be  authentic,  as  it  was  one  of  the  Pres- 
ton papers  turned  over  to  Lyman  C.  Draper  by  the  descendants  of 
Colonel  William  Preston ;  and  which  is  now  possessed  and  preserved 
by  the  Wisconsin  Historical  Society  as  a  valuable  and  precious 
document.  The  spirit  of  the  paper  is  not  of  a  character  that  should 
win  the  approval  of  the  descendants  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  South- 
west Virginia.  It  breathes  too  much  of  the  spirit  of  the  Celtic  Rob 
Roys  and  the  Saxon  Cederics,  who  thought  it  not  immoral  to  plunder 
and  kill  their  weaker  neighbors.  The  paper  also  shows  that  Colonel 
Preston  and,  possibly,  a  number  of  the  Trans-Alleghany  pioneers, 


and  Southwest  Virginia  281 

still  held  to  the  idea  that  there  were  no  good  Indians ;  and  were  in 
sympathy  with  the  policy,  which  started  at  Jamestown,  of  extermi- 
nating the  aborigines.  If  the  proposed  unrighteous  features  of  the 
expedition  induced  any  of  our  ancestors  to  accompany  it,  we  should 
not  be  proud  of  the  fact.  It  was  an  invitation  to  go  with  an  expedi- 
tion to  Ohio  to  drive  the  benighted  aboriginal  inhabitants  from  their 
lands,  to  plunder  and  burn  their  homes,  destroy  their  crops,  and 
massacre  their  women  and  children.  Fortunately  these  cruel  designs 
were  thwarted  by  the  peace  which  was  made  with  the  Indians  by 
Lord  Dunmore  immediately  after  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant  was 
won  by  the  gallant  Virginia  mountaineers. 


The  year  1774-  was  a  very  eventful  and  trying  one  to  the  Taze- 
well pioneers.  Though  the  population  west  of  New  River  was 
sparse  and  very  much  scattered,  the  inhabitants  soon  became  inti- 
mately associated  in  making  preparation  to  repel  invasions  of  the 
hostile  Indians.  Excitement  was  intense  at  a  most  important  period 
of  the  year,  when  the  settlers  were  busily'  occupied  in  making  and 
saving  their  crops  of  grain,  chiefly  corn,  upon  which  their  families 
were  dependent  for  subsistence  during  the  ensuing  year.  Small 
scalping  parties  of  Shawnees  began  to  invade  the  regions  along  and 
west  of  New  River;  and  in  making  these  incursions  they  showed  a 
strong  disposition  to  use  the  passes  at  the  headwaters  of  Sandy 
River,  all  of  which  fronted  on  the  Upper  Clinch  Valley  in  Tazewell 
County. 

In  compliance  with  the  orders  of  Colonel  William  Preston, 
five  companies  were  in  process  of  enlistment  and  organization  to 
join  the  expedition  of  Colonel  Andrew  Lewis  to  Ohio.  These  com- 
panies were  ultimately  organized  and  marched  under  command  of 
Captains  William  Campbell,  Evan  Shelby,  and  Walter  Crockett,  of 
the  Holston  Valley;  CajDtain  William  Herbert  of  the  Upper  New 
River  Valley;  and  Captain  William  Russell  of  the  Clinch  Valley. 
While  these  companies  were  being  enlisted  and  assembled,  a  small 
band -of  Shawnee  Indians  came  up  Tug  River,  crossed  over  to  and 
down  Wolf  Creek  to  New  River,  and  went  up  the  latter  stream  to 
the  homes  of  Philip  Lybrook  and  John  McGriff  on  the  east  side  of 
New  River,  just  below  the  mouth  of  Sinking  Creek,  in  the 
present  county  of  Giles.  On  Sunday,  the  7th  day  of  August,  1774, 
they  made  an  attack  upon  a  group  of  children  who  were  playing  on 


282  History  of  Tazewell  County 

the  bank  of  the  river.  Three  of  Lybrook's  children  one  a  sucking 
infant,  a  young  woman  by  the  name  of  Scott,  and  two  little  girls  of 
Mrs.  Snidow  were  killed;  and  Lybrook,  who  was  at  a  small  mill  he 
had  built  near  his  home,  was  wounded  in  the  arm.  The  children 
were  scalped  and  mangled  in  a  very  cruel  manner.  McGriff  shot  and 
mortally  wounded  one  of  the  Indians.  Some  years  later  the  remains 
of  the  Indian  were  found  under  rocks  at  a  cliff  near  the  scene  of  the 
tragedy.  Three  small  boys,  Theophilus  and  Jacob  Snidow  and 
Thomas  McGriff,  were  made  captives  and  taken  away  by  the  Indians. 
On  the  following  Wednesday  niglit,  while  camping  at  Pipestem 
Knob,  in  the  present  Summers  County,  West  Virginia,  two  of  the 
boys,  Jacob  Snidow  and  Thomas  McGriff,  made  a  daring  and  suc- 
cessful escape.  Judge  Jolmston,  who  gives  a  very  interesting 
account  of  tlie  tragic  incident  in  his  History  of  the  New  River 
Settlement,  says:  "Theoj^hilus  Snidow,  the  other  captive  boy,  was 
carried  by  the  Indians  to  their  towns  north  of  the  Ohio,  and  when 
he  had  reached  his  manhood  returned  to  his  people,  but  in  delicate 
health  with  pulmonary  trouble  from  which  he  shortly  died." 

Colonel  Preston  had  sent  Major  James  Robertson,  with  a  scout- 
ing party  of  twenty  men  to  Culbertson's  Bottom,  now  known  as 
Crump's  Bottom,  in  Summers  County,  West  Virginia,  to  build  a  fort 
and  give  warning  to  the  settlers  on  the  river  above.  Robertson 
wrote  to  Colonel  Preston  on  the  1st  of  August,  1774,  reporting,  in 
part,  as  follows:  "About  three  hours  ago  John  Draper  came  here 
with  thirteen  men,  which  makes  our  number  33."  He  then  reported 
that  he  was  keeping  scouts  out  continually,  and  had  seen  no  fresh 
signs  of  Indians  for  four  or  five  days;  but  said:  "as  John  Draper 
came  down  yesterdaj"  he  surely  seen  the  tracks  of  five  or  six  Indians, 
he  says,  on  Wolf  Creek,  and  they  made  towards  the  settlements." 
This  was  evidently  the  same  party  that  made  the  attack  upon  the 
Lybrooks  and  Snidows,  as  Colonel  Preston  reported  to  Lord  Dun- 
more  that  there  were  but  six  Indians  in  the  band  that  killed  the 
Lybrook  and  Snidow  children.  The  Indians  had  knowledge  of  the 
scouting  station  at  Culbertson's  and  had  adroitly  avoided  Robertson's 
scouts,  by  traveling  up  Tug,  crossing  over  to  Wolf  Creek  and  reach- 
ing New  River  about  twenty  miles  above  where  Robertson  was 
stationed.  On  the  12th  of  August  he  again  wrote  Colonel  Preston 
from  Culbertson's,  sayings:  "This  morning  our  scouts  met  with  a 
couple  of  poor  little  boys  between  this  and  Blue  Stone,  one  a  son 
of  John  McGriff's,  the  other  a  son  of  Widow  Snidows  at  Burks 


and  Southwest  Virginia  283 

fort,  that  made  their  escapes  from  the  Indians,  last  Tuesday  night 
about  micbiight  away  up  towards  the  Clover  Bottoms  on  Blue  Stone 
or  between  that  and  the  lower  war  road  on  Blue  Stone." 

Robertson  was  very  much  impressed  with  the  danger  that 
threatened  the  inhabitants  of  the  Upper  New  River  settlements  and 
of  Reed  Creek,  on  account  of  the  ease  with  which  the  Indians  could 
come  up  the  Sandy  route  and  slip  between  the  outposts  on  New 
River  and  tliose  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Clinch.  This  caused  him 
to  communicate  his  fears  to  Colonel  Preston  as  follows:  "Unless 
you  keep  your  own  side  of  the  mountain  well  guarded  there  them 
stragling  little  partys  will  do  Abundance  of  Damage.  Where  People 
is  gathered  in  forts  there  ought  to  be  men  under  Pay  Just  Ready 
on  any  Occasion  these  Small  partys  passes  Scouts  and  Companys 
without  Possibly  being  Discovered." 

Fearing  that  he  might  be  censured  for  not  discovering  and  driving 
back  the  scalping  party  that  murdered  the  Lybrook  and  Snidow  chil- 
dren, Robertson  declared  that  if  his  own  life  and  honour,  and  the 
lives  of  all  his  relations,  and  the  lives  of  all  his  well  wishers  had  been 
at  stake  he  could  have  done  no  more  than  he  did  do  to  prevent  the 
horrible  catastrophe  at  Lybrook's.  He  saw  that  all  the  border  settle- 
ments were  greatly  endangered,  and  knew  the  importance  of 
strengthening  the  defences  on  the  line  from  New  River  to  Cumber- 
land Gap.  That  he  and  his  men  were  anxious  for  tlie  safety  of  their 
own  families,  who  lived  in  the  Upper  New  River  settlements,  was 
shown  by  his  writing  Colonel  Preston:  "I  suppose  my  helpless 
family  is  in  great  fear,  and  indeed  not  without  reason." 

Major  Arthur  Cam2Dbell,  who  was  in  charge  of  all  the  military 
forces  and  defences  west  of  New  River,  was  so  solicitous  for  the 
safety  of  the  settlements  on  the  Clinch  that,  as  soon  as  the  news 
reached  him  of  the  Sinking  Creek  massacre,  he  sent  express  mes- 
sengers to  Captains  Russell  and  Smith  bearing  duplicates  of  the 
following  urgent  orders : 

"Royal-Oak  Augt.  9,  1774 

Dear  Sir — I  have  this  moment  Received  intelligence  of  several 
people  being  killed  last  Monday  by  the  Indians  on  Sinking  Creek 
about  10  miles  from  Colo.  Prestons.  This  makes  it  necessary  that 
we  should  be  strictly  on  our  guard  lest  some  straggling  party  should 
visit  us.  Therefore  endeavour  without  loss  of  time  to  get  the  inhabi- 
tants in  your  Company  collected  together  in  2  or  3  convenient  places 
for  forts,  and  let  them  keep  up  strict  and  regular  Duty  until  more 


284  History  of  Tazewell  County 

men  can  be  sent  over  to  assist  them  which  I  will  endeavor  to  have 
done  with  all  possible  speed.  This  alarm  will  retard  the  expedition 
at  least  a  week,  therefore  all  young  men  that  chooses  to  do  regular 
duty  may  be  taken  into  pay.  I  expect  an  Express  tomorrow  from 
Colo.  Preston  after  which  you  shall  have  further  Instructions.  Pray 
do  everything  in  your  power  for  the  safety  of  the  Inhabitants. 
I  am  Dr.  Sir,  very  sincerely  yours 

Arthur  Campbell 
On  his  Majestys  service 
To  Captain  Daniel  Smith  on  Clinch." 

It  seems  that  Captains  Russell  and  Smith  proceeded  without 
delay  to  execute  the  orders  sent  them  by  Major  Campbell.  On  the 
24th  of  August,  two  weeks  after  transmitting  the  said  orders  to 
Russell  and  Smith,  Major  Campbell  notified  Colonel  Preston  that 
he  had  received  a  petition  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  Clinch  Valley 
requesting  that  they  be  regularly  employed  in  the  service  and  also 
asking  that  the  number  then  on  duty  be  enlarged.  Campbell  wrote 
Colonel  Preston  that  he  declined  to  grant  the  petition  "witliout 
orders  from  you;"  but  reported:  "I  let  the  Gentlemen  know,  that 
the  inhabitants  that  strictly  did  regular  Duty  might  be  continued  on 
the  Lists  until  a  sufficient  Number  of  Draughts  might  arrive  to 
complete  the  Corapanys  and  then  I  would  recommend  it  to  the  Offi- 
cers to  keep  the  best  Woodsmen  of  ye  Inhabitants  in  pay  for  the 
purpose  of  ranging  in  preference  to  any  that  miglit  offer  themselves 
from  Holston  or  New  River." 

JNIajor  CamjDbell's  apprehension  that  the  Sinking  Creek  massacre 
would  delay  the  march  of  the  Lewis  expedition  to  Ohio  was  well 
founded.  The  enlistment  of  the  number  of  men  called  for  from 
Fincastle  County  had  been  greatly  retarded  by  jealousies  and  rival- 
ries among  the  militia  officers  of  the  Holston  Valley.  These  dis- 
sensions had  given  much  trouble  to  both  Major  Campbell  and  Colonel 
Preston ;  and  when  they  had  about  succeeded  in  getting  the  trouble 
under  control  the  massacre  of  the  Lybrook  and  Snidow  children 
oocurred.  This  horrible  incident  made  many  of  the  frontiersmen 
reluctant  to  go  with  the  expedition  and  leave  their  families  exposed 
to  the  scalping  bands  of  Indians.  The  men  of  the  Upper  Clinch 
Valley  had  been  doing  much  volunteer  scouting  and  ranging  service 
without  compensation  for  such  service,  other  than  the  protection  of 
their  own  settlements,  while  the  ranging  parties  sent  out  from  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  285 

New  River  and  Holston  settlements  had  been  receiving  pay  for 
their  service.  The  war  which  was  on  hand  involved  the  protection 
and  welfare  of  all  the  settlements  west  of  New  River;  and  the  men 
of  the  Clinch  Valley  very  justly  held  that  they  should  be  regularly 
employed  in  tlie  service,  with  compensation,  as  were  the  men  of  the 
more  populous  settlements  on  the  Holston  and  New  River. 

On  the  16th  of  August,  Captain  William  Russell,  who  had  given 
his  fort  at  Castle's  Woods  the  name  of  "Fort  Preston,"  wrote  to 
Colonel  Preston  from  that  place,  notifying  him  that  he  was  ready 
and  anxious  to  march  with  his  company  "to  the  appointed  place  of 
Rendezvous"  for  the  Lewis  expedition.  Captain  Russell  also  said 
in  his  letter  to  Colonel  Preston:  "I  hope  Sir  you  will  think  it  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  have  two  Captains  to  Command  on  Clinch  at  this 
Critical  season,  that  ought  to  be  ranging,  besides  those  in  the  Forts, 
as  Constant  Guards  to  the  Inhabitants." 

Captain  Russell  clearly  saw  that  the  passes  at  the  heads  of  the 
several  branches  of  Sandy  River  were  not  being  properly  guarded 
at  a  time  which  he  pronounced  a  "critical  season."  And  he  sug- 
gested that  Captain  James  Thompson,  who  had  been  appointed  to 
command  a  company  stationed  at  Fort  Blackmore.  in  the  present 
Scott  County,  should  be  transferred  to  a  command  "towards  the  head 
of  the  River."  The  anxiety  of  Captain  Russell  for  the  protection 
of  the  inhabitants  at  the  head  of  the  Clinch  was  so  great  that  he 
made  the  following  personal  appeal  to  Colonel  Preston:  "Should 
I  be  granted  a  Command,  and  it  be  agreeable  to  you  and  Capt. 
Thompson,  should  be  proud  if  it  could  be  your  pleasure  to  appoint 
him  towards  the  head  of  the  River,  as  that  will  give  him  a  more 
Immediate  opportunity  of  securing  the  Inhabitants  about  his 
Father's,  and  even  his  own." 

Captain  Thompson  was  a  very  near  and  dear  kinsman  of  Colonel 
Preston.  Thompson  was  the  grandson  of  Colonel  James  Patton, 
and  Colonel  Preston  was  nephew  of  Patton.  But  this  strong  per- 
sonal appeal  to  the  county  lieutenant  of  Fincastle  County  did  not 
procure  two  Captains  with  companies  for  the  head  of  the  Clinch; 
and  Captain  Daniel  Smith  was  retained  in  command  of  the  upper 
stations  in  the  Valley. 

Colonel  Preston  surely  must  have  believed  that  the  pioneers  had 
settled  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Clinch  with  a  resolute  purpose  of 
remaining  there ;  and  that  they  would  not  only  be  able  to  take  care 
of  themselves,  but  would  also  afford  a  strong  barrier  against  Indian 


286  History  of  Tazewell  County 

incursions  into  the  Holston  and  Reed  Creek  settlements.  Captain 
Russell's  letter  of  the  16th  of  August  was  well  calculated  to 
strengthen  this  conclusion  in  Preston's  mind.  When  Russell  gave 
the  number  he  would  take  with  him  on  the  Ohio  expedition  he  said: 
"There  are  about  thirty  that  will  certainly  go  with  me;  and  Capt. 
Smith  says  Wm  Bowen  has  four  that  will  go  with  me."  These  four 
were,  William  Bowen  and  his  two  brothers,  Reese  and  Moses,  and 
David  Ward ;  and  the  four  made  good  by  going  and  doing  valiant 
service  on  the  expedition.  There  were  others  from  tlie  Upper 
Clinch  Valley  who  were  at  Point  Pleasant,  whose  names  will  be 
mentioned  in  succeeding  pages. 

In  tlie  meantime  Captain  Daniel  Smith  proceeded  to  carry  out 
the  orders  of  Major  Campbell  to  gatlier  the  inhabitants  in  the  forts, 
and  to  enlist  men  regularly  for  the  several  stations  in  his  charge. 
Lists  of  the  garrisons  at  the  Maiden  Spring  Fort  and  Thomas  Wit- 
ten's  fort  at  the  Crab  Orchard  were  left  among  the  papers  of  Colonel 
William  Preston ;  and  they  are  worthy  of  a  place  of  honor  in  a  his- 
tory of  Tazewell  County.  I  copy  them  from  Thwaites'  Dunmore's 
War: 

At  The  Maiden's  Springs  Station  26th.  Aug*  1774. 

Mr.  Robt.  Brown,  Sergeant  till  23rd  Sep*  then  Joseph  Cravens. 

Henry  Willis 

Joseph  Cravens 

James  MClehany  discharged  19th.  Oct.  55  days 

James  Cravens 

John  Jameson  listed  29th  Aug*  disch.  19th  Octo  53  days 

James  Rogers 

Thomas  Brumly  listed  22"<^  Aug*  disch.  19th  Oct.  60  days 

And^^  Lammy  listed  16th.  Aug*  4th  Sejo*  Saml.  Fowler  came  in 
his  room 

John  Flintham  listed  14th.  Augt.  disch.  19th.  Oct.  68  days 

James  Douglas  M.  S. 

John  Newland  W.    1 

Samuel  Paxton  W.   ]■  listed  Sept  14th.  discharged  22nd.  8  days 

Philip  Dutton  W.     J 

John  Cravens  23rd.  Sept.  M.  S. 

Rees  Bowen  Aug.  26-  Sept.  2 

David  Ward  Aug.  26-  Sept.  2 

Robt.  Cravens  Nov.  1st.  -  Nov.  18 


and  Southwest  Virginia  287 

Rees  Bowen  and  David  Ward  were  discharged  on  the  2nd  of 
Sept.  so  that  they  could  go  with  Captain  Russell  on  the  expedition 
to  Ohio;  and  Robt  Cravens  enlisted  as  a  member  of  the  Maiden 
Spring  garrison  after  he  returned  from  Ohio. 
At  The  Upper  Station 
(This  was  Witten's  Fort.  —  Auth.) 
Mr.  John  Campbell  Ensign 

Isaac  Spratt  1   Sergeant  25th.  Sept.  went  away 

George  Dohorty    J  without  leave 
■   Andw.  Steel  Oct.  18th  disch  64  days 
John  Hambleton  disch  18th  Oct.  64  days 
Alexr.  Grant  deserted  8th.  Sept. 
David  Bustar  (Bruster) 


listed 
15  Augt. 


29th  Augt.         ,    Wm.  Thompson 
Edward  Sharp  7th.  Sept.  listed,  disch.  21st.  14  days 
Michael  Glaves.  6th.  SejDt.  went  away  without  leave  7th.  Octr. 
James  Fullen  5th.  Sept.  disch.  21st.  16  days 

James  Edwards  5th.  Sept.  went  away  without  leave  30th.  Sept. 
John  Williams  7th.  Sept.  disch.  16th.  9  days 
Thomas   Potter   5th.   Sept.   went  away  without  leave  7th.   Oct. 

came  back. 
Levi  Bishop  8th.  Sept.  Do  Do  22d.  Sept. 
Robert  Manford  (Moffett)  8th.  Sept. 

Alexander  Henderson  15th.  Sept.  went  awaj^  12th.  Oct. 
Francis   Hambleton    15th.   Sept.   went   out   without  leave   25th. 

Sept.  came  back 
John  Crafford  15th.  Sept.  discharged  24th.  10  days 
Isiah   Hambleton    15th.   Sept.   22nd.   Sept.   went   away   without 

leave 
Benjamin  Rediford  15th  Sept.  25th.  Sept.  Do 
George  Vant  15th.  Sept.  26th.  went  away,  came  back  Oct.   1st. 
And^^  Branstead  15th.       |     Sept.  26th.  Do 
James  Mitchell  15th.  f      Sept.  26th.  Do  Do 

Rowland  Williams  Do 

Mr  Thomas  Whitten  senr  appointed  Sergeant  26th.  Sept. 

Thomas  Whitten  jur  Octo.   1st. 

John  Grinup  Do. 

Francis  Hynes  Do. 


288  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Samuel  Doack  listed  Octo.  1st.  went  away  12th.  Oct. 


Thomas  Rogers 

Do. 

Do. 

John  Lashly 

Do. 

Do. 

Wm.  King  Octo.  1st. 

Tho^  Meads 

Do. 

Jacob   Kindar 

Do. 

Daniel  Henderson 

■   Oct.  10th. 

Peter  Kinder 

Jonathan  Edwards 

in  his  brothers  room  6th. 

Oct. 

Christian  Bergman 

5th.  Oct. 

Michael  Razor  21th 

.  Octo. 

Jeremiah  Whitton  27th.  Oct. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  so  many  of  the  men  who  were  stationed 
at  the  Witten  fort  "went  away  without  leave."  There  was  but  one 
man  marked  as  a  deserter ;  and  it  is,  no  doubt,  a  fact  that  all  those 
who  absented  themselves  from  the  post  did  so  because  it  was  neces- 
sary to  save  their  corn  crops.  The  officers  at  the  station  were  evi- 
dently without  authority  to  grant  leaves  of  absence,  but,  knowing 
the  necessity  for  the  men  going  home,  acquiesced  in  their  departure 
and  did  not  class  them  as  deserters.  This  conclusion  is  supported 
by  the  fact  that  some  of  the  absentees  returned  to  duty  without 
reproof  from  their  officers. 

Along  with  the  lists  of  the  men  who  were  stationed  at  the  Maiden 
Spring  and  Crab  Orchard  forts,  was  a  list  of  the  persons  who  acted 
as  scouts  in  the  Upper  Clinch  Valley  during  the  summer  and  fall  of 
1774.  This  list  was  also  found  among  the  papers  of  Colonel  Wil- 
liam Preston,  and  is  as  follows : 

Scouts. 
William  Bowen  Aug.    12th 

James  Fowler 

Tho^  Maxwell  10  days  June   11th 

Rees  Bowan 
David  Ward 

John  Kingkeid  17  days 

Wm.  Priest  7  days 

John  Sharp  10  days 

Wm.  Crabtree 
Samuel  Hays 
Robt.  Davis  15  days  of  his  time  to  go  to  Robt.  Moffet. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  289 


-& 


William  Wynne's  fort  at  Locust  Hill  was  not  garrisoned  by  a 
regularly  enlisted  force.  However  it  was  protected  by  a  volunteer 
garrison^  composed  of  the  Wynne's,  Harmans,  Peerys,  Butlers^ 
Evans',  Carrs,  and  other  settlers  of  the  neighborhood.  This  was  at 
that  time  the  most  thickly  settled  community  within  the  bounds  of 
the  present  Tazewell  County ;  and  the  fort  was  so  favorably  situated 
that  its  defence  was  easy. 


T.H.— 19 


290  History  of  Tazewell  County 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FINCASTLE    MEN    CALLED   FOR   OHIO    EXPEDITION INDIANS    INVADE 

CLINCH   AND   HOLSTON    SETTLEMENTS. 

After  sending  his  order  of  the  12th  of  July  to  Colonel  Andrew 
Lewis,  directing  him  to  raise  a  body  of  men  and  march  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Kanawha  and  build  a  fort  there.  Lord  Dunmore  went  to  the 
fort  at  Winchester,  Virginia.  From  that  place  tlie  governor  wrote 
Lewis  on  the  24'th  of  July,  1774,  notifying  him  that  conditions  were 
so  serious  in  the  Upper  Ohio  Valley  that  he  had  determined  to  go 
to  Fort  Dunmore  (formerly  Fort  Pitt)  at  Pittsburg,  and  from  that 
place  conduct  an  expedition  down  the  Ohio  River,  to  strike  the 
Indians  a  blow  that  would  break  up  their  confederacy.  Governor 
Dunmore  directed  Lewis  "to  a  raise  a  respectable  body  of  men"  and 
join  him  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  as  quickly  as  possible.  He 
also  wrote  Lewis:  "I  wish  you  would  acquaint  CoP  Preston  of  con- 
tents of  this  Letter  that  those  he  sends  out  may  join  you,  and  pray 
be  as  explicit  as  you  can  as  to  the  time  and  place  of  meeting." 

In  the  last  days  of  August,  Captain  William  Russell  began  his 
march  with  the  Clinch  Valley  contingent,  about  forty  men,  to  join 
the  other  Fincastle  troops  at  a  point  on  New  River.  About  the  1st 
of  September  the  Fincastle  troops,  some  two  hundred  in  number, 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  William  Christian  took  up  their 
march  and  on  the  6th  of  September  arrived  at  the  appointed  place 
for  assembling,  the  Great  Levels  of  Greenbrier,  then  named  Camp 
Union.  The  next  day,  the  7th  of  September,  Colonel  Christian  wrote 
Colonel  Preston  that  Colonel  Lewis  said  that  the  number  of  men  who 
had  come  to  the  camp  exceeded  his  expectations,  and  that  not  more 
than  100  more  men  should  be  sent  from  Fincastle  County  to  join  the 
expedition.  John  Floyd  and  others  were  still  engaged  in  enlisting 
companies  of  men  to  go  on  the  camj^aign ;  and  Colonel  Lewis  was 
afraid  he  could  not  secure  and  convey  enough  provisions  for  the 
subsistence  of  the  number  of  men  that  had  already  assembled.  There 
was  another  serious  trouble  upon  Colonel  Lewis.  He  had  a  small 
supply  of  powder,  only  one-fourth  of  a  pound  for  each  man  who 
carried  a  gun,  about  six  shots  to  the  man.  This  was  a  very  small 
supply  of  powder  for  such  a  dangerous  expedition,  and  shows  how 
desperately    daring    were    the    mountaineer    pioneers.       No    doubt 


and  Southwest  Virginia  291 

Colonel  Lewis  recalled  the  Sandy  Expedition  of  1756,  which  was 
under  his  command  and  had  to  endure  such  terrible  hardships  from 
a  lack  of  provisions  and  ammunition.  He  wisely  determined  to  take 
no  more  men  with  this  expedition,  his  second  effort  to  reach  the 
Shawnee  towns,  than  could  be  furnished  with  ample  supplies  of 
provisions  and  ammunition.  From  a  report  made  to  Colonel  Preston, 
Lewis  then  had  with  him  about  1400  men.  His  little  army  was  com- 
posed of  volunteers  and  militia  from  the  counties  of  Augusta,  Bote- 
tourt and  Fincastle,  a  company  of  volunteers  from  Culpeper  County, 
commanded  by  Colonel  John  Field,  and  a  company  from  Bedford 
County,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Thomas  Buford.  The  men 
from  Augusta  were  commanded  by  Colonel  Charles  Lewis,  brother 
of  Colonel  Andrew  Lewis;  the  Botetourt  troops  by  Colonel  William 
Fleming;  and  those  from  Fincastle  by  Colonel  William  Christian,  as 
previously  related. 

The  day  the  Fincastle  troops  arrived  at  Camp  Union,  the  6th 
of  September,  they  found  that  Colonel  Charles  Lewis  had  marched 
with  about  600  Augusta  troops  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha. 
Colonel  Christian  wrote  to  Colonel  Preston:  "His  business  is  to 
proceed  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  Elk  &  there  to  make  canoes  to  take 
down  the  flour.  He  took  with  him  500  Pack  Horses  carrying  54,000 
pounds  of  flour  &  108  Beeves."  Colonel  Christian  then  stated  that 
he  had  been  apprised  by  Colonel  Andrew  Lewis  that  he  would 
start  with  the  Botetourt  troops  in  a  few  days,  and  leave  the  Fincastle 
troops  at  Camp  Union  to  bring  up  the  rear  some  days  later. 
Christian  thought  this  would  greatly  dissatisfy  his  men,  as  they 
were  eager  to  be  with  the  advance  troops.  On  the  12th  of  Septem- 
ber, Colonel  Christian  wrote  Colonel  Preston:  "Col°  Lewis  has  just 
marched  with  Col°  Fleming  and  the  Botetourt  Troops,  with  an  addi- 
tion of  Cap*  Shelby  &  Cap*^  Russell's  companies  from  Fincastle  and 
has  left  under  my  care  the  remaining  part  of  the  Fincastle  men,  a 
few  Culpeper,  Dunmore  (Shenandoah)  and  Augusta  men,  and 
ordered  me  to  stay  for  the  return  of  the  pack  horses  that  went  with 
Ch:  Lewis,  which  I  shall  look  for  along  this  day  week.  I  have  dis- 
patched Mr.  Posey  towards  Staunton  to  hurry  out  all  the  flour  pos- 
sible by  that  time  and  several  persons  are  employed  in  gathering 
beeves.  There  is  gone  on  72,000  wt  of  flour.  There  is  now  here 
about  8  thousand,  and  130  horse  loads  to  be  here  tomorrow  night, 
96  loads  at  the  Warm  Springs  which  I  have  to  send  back  for,  &  I 
suppose  there  is  between  30  and  40,000  weight  beyond  the  Si3rings. 


292  History  of  Tazewell  County 

I  purpose  to  mai'ch  this  day  week  with  all  that  can  be  had  or  a  day 
or  two  after  if  possible." 

This  shows  that  the  expedition  was  amply  provisioned;  and 
the  future  accomplishments  of  the  little  army  proved  that  it  had 
sufficient  ammunition,  received  from  sources  that  the  records  pre- 
served do  not  disclose. 


August  the  25th,  1774,  Colonel  William  Preston  sent  the  fol- 
lowing written  orders  to  Major  Arthur  Campbell,  looking  to  the 
defence  of  the  settlements  on  Clinch  River: 

"Sir — Agreeable  to  the  Conclusion  come  to  by  a  Council  of 
the  Militia  Officers  of  this  County,  the  second  of  this  month,  for 
the  Denfence  of  the  Frontiers,  in  the  absence  of  the  Troops,  I 
ordered  Capt.  Thompson  with  sixty  men  to  guard  the  lower  settle- 
ments on  Clinch,  which  duty  I  suppose  he  is  upon  by  or  before 
this  time;  &  as  the  upper  Settlements  are  still  uncovered,  I  would 
have  you  appoint  Capt.  Daniel  Smith  to  that  Service,  with  such 
Officers  as  you  think  pi-oper;  &  there  must  be  thirty  men  draughted 
from  Capt.  Herberts  &  tlie  late  Capt.  Doacks  Companies.  The  men 
are  to  be  disposed  of  along  that  Frontier  as  was  agreed  on  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Officers  above  mentioned. 

"I  would  also  request  that  you  would  examine  carefully  into  the 
number  of  scouts  on  that  quarter,  and,  if  you  see  it  necessary,  to 
abridge  them.  You  will  likewise  make  enquiry,  how  they,  &  each 
of  them,  have  performed  the  trust  reposed  in  them,  and  make  report 
to  me  accordingly." 

Wm.  Preston 
(To  Major  Campbell) 

Aug.  25th  1774" 

Up  to  this  time  no  substantial  help  had  been  given  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  Upper  Clinch  Valley  for  the  defence  of  the  dangerous 
frontier  on  which  they  were  living.  The  list  of  men  stationed  at 
Witten's  fort  at  Crab  Orchard,  published  on  a  preceding  page,  indi- 
cates that  a  few  men  were  sent  from  the  Holston  Valley  in  com- 
pliance with  the  order  of  Colonel  Preston.  It  is  certain  that  Ensign 
John  Campbell,  who  was  a  brother  of  Major  Arthur  Campbell,  and 
Issac  Spratt  and  Levi  Bishop  were  from  that  Valley  as  they  were 
tlien  living  on  the  north  and  south  forks,  respectively,  of  the  Holston 
River,  within  the  bounds  of  the  present  Smyth  County.    The  inhabi- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  293 

tants  of  the  Holston  Valley  were  more  in  dread  of  Indian  incur- 
sions than  were  the  settlers  on  the  Clinch,  and  there  was  good  reason 
for  their  fears.  They  had  no  forts  on  the  North  Fork  of  Holston, 
and  there  were  but  two  on  the  Middle  Fork  of  that  river,  Campbell's 
fort  at  Royal  Oak,  and  Thompson's  fort  at  Town  House  (Chil- 
howie).  If  the  men  from  the  Holston  region  had  gone  to  the  Clinch 
to  perform  garrison  duty,  they  would  have  been  compelled  to  leave 
their  families  unprotected,  or  to  place  them  in  Campbell's  or  Thomp- 
son's fort.  Therefore,  it  is  not  surprising  that  so  few  of  them  went 
to  the  forts  on  the  Clinch  for  service. 

While  the  Lewis  expedition  was  marching  to  the  Ohio  Valley, 
small  bands  of  Shawnees  and  Mingos  began  to  invade  the  Clinch  and 
Holston  valleys  and  make  murderous  attacks  upon  the  inhabitants. 
The  Indians  kept  spies  hovering  about  Lewis'  little  army  as  it 
marched  to  the  Ohio ;  and  took  advantage  of  the  absence  of  the  men, 
who  were  with  the  expedition,  to  kill  and  rob  the  unprotected  people 
left  in  the  Clinch  and  Holston  settlements.  The  first  attack  by  the 
Indians  upon  the  settlers  in  the  Upper  Clinch  Valley  was  made  on 
the  8th  of  September,  1774.  On  that  day  a  band  of  12  or  15 
Indians  were  in  Thompson  Valley,  and  about  daybreak  killed  John 
Henry  and  his  wife  and  three  small  children.  Bickley,  in  his  His- 
tory of  Tazewell,  has  related  the  incident  in  very  interesting  style, 
and  his  account  of  the  occurrence  will  be  quoted  in  succeeding  pages 
of  this  volume,  along  with  his  accounts  of  all  the  massacres  that 
were  committed  in  Tazewell  County  by  the  Indians.  Dr.  Bickley 
made  a  mistake  as  to  the  date  of  the  Henry  massacre,  placing  it  in 
May,  1776. 

Henry  was  living  in  Thompson  Valley,  on  the  southside  of  Rich 
Mountain,  a  short  distance  east  of  Plum  Creek  Gap,  upon  land  now 
owned  by  Archie  Thompson.  He  had  settled  there  in  the  month  of 
May  preceding.  In  a  letter  dated,  "Royal  Oak,  Sept.  9th.  1774," 
Major  Arthur  Campbell  made  a  report  of  the  attack  upon  the  Henry 
family,  which  he  said  occurred  the  morning  of  the  previous  day,  that 
is  the  8th  of  September,  1774.  Henry  was  standing  in  his  door 
when  two  Indians  fired  at  him,  inflicting  a  mortal  wound.  He 
realized  that  he  could  do  nothing  for  the  protection  of  his  wife  and 
children  and  Major  Campbell  says:  "He  immediately  ran  to  the 
woods ;  and  shortly  after,  accidentally  met  with  Old  Jno.  Hamilton 
who  concealed  him  in  a  thicket  until  he  should  go  and  alarm  the 
Fort,  and  bring  him  assistance.     Hamilton  had  the  courage  to  go 


294  History  of  Tazewell  County 

to  Henry's  House;  but  saw  nothing,  either  of  the  Indians,  or  of  the 
woman  and  children."  The  M^oman  and  three  children  had  been 
killed  and  scalped  and  piled  up  a  short  distance  from  the  house, 
and  in  that  way  escaped  Hamilton's  notice,  which  caused  him  to 
rejDort  their  capture.  Hamilton  was  one  of  the  enlisted  men  at 
Witten's  fort  at  the  Crab  Orchard,  which  was  about  three  miles 
distant  from  the  scene  of  the  massacre ;  and  his  name  appears  upon 
the  list  of  the  garrison  as  "John  Hamhleton." 

On  his  way  to  the  fort,  Hamilton  met  John  Bradshaw,  whom 
Bickley  says  had  settled  in  the  valley,  two  miles  west  of  the  present 
town  of  Tazewell,  in  1771.  Bradshaw  had  been  alarmed  by  discov- 
ering some  Indian  signs  in  his  corn  field  that  morning  and  had 
started  over  to  Rich  Valley,  in  the  present  Smyth  County,  where  his 
family  had  gone  on  a  visit.  He  struck  out  through  the  woods,  passed 
by  the  Henry  home,  and  at  a  point  about  three  miles  from  the 
scene  of  the  tragedj^  came  ujDon  a  place  where  twelve  or  fifteen 
Indians  had  breakfasted,  as  shown  by  provisions  they  had  left,  and 
other  signs.  From  that  place  he  followed  the  tracks  of  the  red  men 
a  short  distance  and  found  they  were  directing  their  course  toward 
the  Rich  Valley.  He  made  a  rapid  journey  to  that  valley  and  gave 
warning  that  night  to  as  many  of  the  settlers  as  possible ;  and  they 
began  to  gather  at  a  INIr.  Harrison's  who  lived  on  what  Major  Camp- 
bell called  "the  main  path  to  Clinch  in  the  Rich  Valley,  opposite 
to  the  Town-House."  Other  inhabitants  of  the  valley  fled  to  the 
fort  at  Royal  Oak ;  among  these  was  the  wife  of  Ensign  John  Camp- 
bell, who  was  in  charge  of  the  garrison  at  Witten's  fort;  and  Archi- 
bald and  John  Buchanan  with  their  families.  The  families  of  the 
two  Buchanans  made  a  narrow  escape  from  the  Indians.  These 
Buchanans  were  brothers,  and  cousins  of  Colonel  John  Buchanan, 
the  surveyor.  John  Buchanan  lived  in  the  Locust  Cove,  and  his 
wife  was  a  sister  of  Colonel  Buchanan.  Archibald  Buchanan,  lived 
near  the  mouth  of  Cove  Creek  that  empties  into  the  North  Fork  of 
Holston.  He  afterwards  moved  to  the  jDresent  Washington  County, 
and  is  the  ancestor  of  most  of  the  Buchanans  who  now  live  in  Taze- 
well County,  his  brother  John  being  the  ancestor  of  the  other  Taze- 
well Buchanans.  After  murdering  the  Henry  family,  the  Indians, 
evidently,  crossed  Clinch  Mountain  into  Poor  Valley  and  jDassed  over 
Brushy  Mountain  into  the  Locust  Cove;  and  then  traveled  down 
Cove  Creek  to  where  it  enters  the  North  Fork  of  Holston  River.  A 
short  distance  above  that  point,  about  a  mile  above  the  mouth  of 


and  Southwest  Virginia  295 

Cove  Creek,  they  made  Samuel  Lammey  a  captive.  They  must 
have  come  upon  Lammey  alone,  as  his  family  had  been  sent  to  Camp- 
bell's fort  at  Royal  Oak,  after  the  warning  given  by  Bradshaw  to 
the  Rich  Valley  settlers.  The  Indians  then  started  on  their  home- 
ward journey,  crossed  the  Clinch  Valley,  with  their  prisoner,  passed 
through  Roarks'  Gap,  and  followed  Dry  Fork  to  its  confluence  with 
Tug  River. 

The  next  attack  made  by  the  Indians  also  occurred  within  the 
bounds  of  the  present  Tazewell  County.  There  were  three  Indians 
in  the  attacking  party,  and  they  were  evidently  a  part  of  the  band 
that  massacred  the  Henrys  and  went  over  to  Rich  Valley.  It  was 
the  custom  of  the  Indians  when  they  made  hostile  visits  to  the  border 
settlements  to  break  up  into  small  bands  and  scatter  their  attacks 
upon  the  cabins  of  the  most  isolated  and  unprotected  inhabitants. 
This  plan  made  escape  easier  from  pursuing  parties  sent  out  by  the 
settlers.  On  the  13th  of  September,  five  days  after  the  Henrys 
were  murdered,  three  Indians  made  an  attack  upon  a  soldier  who 
was  out  hunting  or  scouting  about  half  a  mile  from  the  fort  at 
jNIaiden  Spring.  The  Indians  shot  at  the  soldier,  but  failed  to  hit 
him.  He  shot  one  of  them  so  severely  that  the  wound  proved  fatal. 
Major  Arthur  Campbell,  in  reporting  the  affair  to  Colonel  Preston, 
said:  "A  party  of  our  people  happened  to  be  within  300  yards  when 
the  gims  were  fired ;  they  soon  were  at  the  place  of  action,  and  give 
the  remaining  two  Indians  a  good  chase.  The  wounded  fellow  found 
means  to  get  into  a  large  cave  or  pit  within  70  or  80  yds.  of  the 
place  where  he  was  shot;  in  which  it  is  supposed  he  is  dead,  as  he 
fell  when  he  was  shot,  and  bled  a  good  deal.  I  have  one  of  the 
plugs  now  in  mj^  house  that  burst  out  of  his  wound  a  few  steps  from 
the  tree  he  stood  beliind  when  he  was  shot.  The  pit  is  to  be  searched 
by  means  of  letting  a  man  down  in  it  by  ropes  with  lights,  as  our 
men  are  anxious  to  get  his  scalp."  This  cave  is  about  a  half  mile 
South  of  Maiden  Spring  and  the  Bowen  homestead. 

Major  Campbell  also  reported  that  on  the  evening  of  the  13th 
Captain  Smith's  scouts  discovered  the  tracks  of  a  party  of  the  enemy 
going  off  with  horses  and  prisoners  they  had  taken.  From  this  it 
appears  that  others  besides  Lammey  had  been  made  captives ;  but 
Campbell  still  thought  that  Henry's  wife  and  children  had  been 
made  prisoners  by  the  Indians,  though  Mrs.  Henry  and  all  the 
children,  except  one  little  boy,  were  afterwards  found  by  a  com- 
pany of  men  who  went  to  the  Henry  home,  dead,  scalped  and  piled 


296 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


up  on  a  ridge  a  short  distance  from  the  house.  The  Indians  when 
they  made  their  forays  always  stole  as  many  horses  as  they  could 
find^  which  they  used  to  carry  away  the  plunder  they  took  and  their 
captives.  Captain  Smith  when  informed  by  his  scouts  of  the  inva- 
sion set  out  with  a  party  of  twenty-one  men  in  pursuit  of  them,  but 
was  unable  to  overtake  them.  At  that  time  there  was  a  very  small 
number  of  men  on  the  Upper  Clinch  region  employed  as  scouts. 
They  had  to  cover  and  guard  a  number  of  passes  along  a  front  of 


This  is  a  view  of  the  Bowen  homestead,  and  no  more  beautiful 
pastoi'al  scene  can  be  found  anywhere.  The  white  cross  mark  is  very 
near  the  spot  where  Rees  Bowen  built  his  fort  in  1773.  Rees  Bowen 
the  5th  now  o^^^ls  and  occupies  the  splendid  estate. 

fifty  miles;  and  could  not  do  the  work  effectively,  no  matter  how 
skilled  and  daring  they  might  be  as  woodsmen.  Major  Campbell 
knew  that  these  passes  were  not  jjroperly  guarded ;  and  in  his  reports 
to  Colonel  Preston,  sent  on  the  9th  and  17th  of  September,  com- 
plained, because  not  a  man  from  Doack's  or  Herbert's  companies 
had  yet  gone  to  help  guard  the  Clinch  Valley  frontier,  though  Pres- 
ton had  ordered,  on  the  25th  of  August,  that  thirty  men  from  these 
companies  be  drafted  and  sent  tliere. 

Small  parties  of  Indians  next  invaded  the  Clinch  Valley  in  the 
present  Scott  County,  and  also  the  lower  settlements  on  the  Hols- 
ton.  The  first  outrage  they  committed  was  at  or  near  Fort  Black- 
more  on  the  Clinch,  when  two  negroes  were  captured  and  a  number 


and  Southwest  Virginia  297 

of  cattle  and  horses  stolen  from  the  settlers.  The  garrison  at  the 
fort  was  so  small  that  the  men  were  afraid  to  go  out  and  encounter 
the  Indians,  not  knowing  the  number  in  the  party.  This  so  embold- 
ened the  Indians,  who  hoped  to  capture  the  fort,  that  they  brought 
the  two  negroes  in  full  A'iew  of  the  fort  and  made  them  run  the 
gauntlet. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  following  day,  the  24th  of  September, 
John  Roberts  and  his  wife  and  several  children  were  killed,  and 
the  eldest  child,  James,  a  boy  ten  years  of  age,  was  made  a  captive 
by  a  band  of  Shawnees  and  Mingos  under  the  leadership  of  Logan, 
the  noted  Mingo  chief.  This  massacre  occurred  on  Reedy  Creek, 
an  affluent  of  the  North  Fork  of  Holston,  and  the  place  was  then 
supposed  to  be  within  the  bounds  of  Fincastle  County,  Virginia ;  and 
it  was,  but  afterwards  it  was  found  that  it  had  been  given  to  Ten- 
nessee through  carelessness  of  the  Virginia  commissioners  when  the 
boundry  line  was  run  between  North  Carolina  and  Virginia  in  1 802. 
Logan  left  in  the  Roberts  cabin  a  war  club,  with  a  letter  tied  to  the 
club  and  addressed  to  Captain  Cresap.  The  original,  when  found, 
was  sent  to  Major  Arthur  Campbell,  and  by  him  forwarded  to 
Colonel  William  Preston  on  the  12th  of  October,  1774.  The  letter 
was  written  on  a  piece  of  birch  bark  and  with  ink  made  from  gun- 
powder. It  had  been  prepared  before  Logan  left  Ohio  with  his 
scalping  partj^ ;  and  was  written,  at  his  dictation,  by  a  white  man 
named  William  Robinson,  who  was  captured  on  the  Monongahela 
River,  July  12th,  carried  to  the  Indians  towns,  saved  from  the  stake 
by  Logan,  and  adopted  into  an  Indian  family.  Before  he  sent  the 
letter  to  Captain  Cresap,  Colonel  Preston  made  a  copy  on  the  back 
of  the  letter  Major  Campbell  had  written  him  when  he  forwarded 
the  Indian  chief's  letter  from  Royal  Oak.  This  copy  was  found 
among  the  Preston  j^apers  and  is  as  follows : 

"To  Captain  Cressap — What  did  you  kill  my  people  on  Yellow 
Creek  for.  The  white  People  Killed  my  Kin  at  Coneestoga  a  great 
while  ago,  &  I  thought  nothing  of  that.  But  you  Killed  my  Kin 
again  on  Yellow  Creek ;  and  took  my  cousin  prisoner,  then  I  thought 
I  must  Kill  too;  and  I  have  been  three  times  to  war  since  but  the 
Indians  is  not  Angry  only  myself. 

Captain  John  Logan 
July  21st.  Day." 

In  his  mention  of  the  killing  of  his  kin  at   Conestoga,  Logan 


298  History  of  Tazewell  County 

refers  to  what  was  called  the  Paxton  riot,  which  occurred  in  1763 
in  Pennsylvania,  when  twenty  inoffensive,  friendly  Conestoga 
Indians  were  brutally  murdered  by  a  mob  of  border  desperadoes. 

Fui'ther  outrages  were  committed  in  rapid  succession  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  both  the  Clinch  and  the  Holston.  The  people  in  the 
Holston  Valley  were  so  alarmed  by  Indian  marauding  bands  that  the 
men  refused  to  comply  with  the  orders  of  Colonel  Preston  and 
Major  Camj^bell  to  send  reinforcements  to  the  Clinch  Valley  set- 
tlers to  help  guard  the  passes  on  the  frontier.  At  the  same  time 
powder  and  lead  became  very  scarce,  the  settlers  on  the  Clinch 
having  been  compelled  to  use  their  amunition  to  protect  their  crops 
during  the  summer  and  fall  from  destruction  by  numerous  wild 
animals.  Flour  was  also  wanted  badly  at  Blackmore's  and  at  the 
head  of  the  Clinch.  That  powder  was  dangerously  scarce  is  proven 
by  the  fact  that  when  Major  Campbell  was  sending  a  company  of 
militia,  on  the  29th,  of  September,  177i,  to  repel  or  pursue  a  band 
of  Indians,  he  wrote  Colonel  Preston: 

"I  luckily  procured  one  pound  &  a  half  of  powder  before  the 
militia  went  out,  which  I  divided  to  such  as  had  none,  3  loads  apiece, 
which  they  went  very  cheerfully  on.  If  j'ou  could  possibly  spare 
me  one  or  two  pounds  I  would  divide  it  in  the  same,  sparing  man- 
ner, in  case  of  another  alarm." 

On  Thursday,  September  29th,  a  very  bold  attack  was  made 
upon  three  men  by  the  Indians  within  300  yards  of  Moore's  Fort  on 
the  Clinch,  six  miles  below  Castle's  Woods.  The  attack  was  made 
between  sunset  and  dark,  and  the  Indians  fired  at  the  men  from 
ambush,  instantly  killing  a  man  named  John  Duncan.  Though  a 
party  of  men  rushed  from  the  fort  and  ran  to  the  spot  as  soon  as 
the  guns  were  fired,  the  Indians  succeeded  in  scalping  Duncan  and 
made  their  escape.  Night  came  on  and  prevented  any  pursuit  until 
tlie  following  morning,  when  it  was  too  late  to  overhaul  the  savages. 
Daniel  Boone  was  then  in  charge  of  the  fort  at  Moore's  and  was 
supervising  all  the  forts  on  the  Clinch  below  Elk  Garden.  Although 
he  was  one  of  the  most  accomjDlished  of  the  woodsmen  and  Indian 
fighters  on  the  border,  he  was  supported  by  such  small  and  indif- 
ferent squads  of  men  stationed  at  the  several  forts  that  he  was 
unable  to  cope  successfully  with  the  wiley  red  men,  who  in  most 
instances  were  being  directed  by  the  daring  and  intelligent  John 
Logan. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  299 

Boone  sent  an  express  messenger  to  Major  Campbell  on  the  30th 
of  September,  to  inform  him  of  the  killing-  of  Duncan,  and  also  told 
him  that  the  Indians  were  still  lurking  about  Fort  Blackmore, 
where  the  two  negroes  had  recently  been  captured  and  "coursed" 
in  front  of  the  fort;  and  that  Captain  Looney,  who  was  in  charge 
of  the  fort,  had  only  eleven  men  and  could  not  venture  to  attack  or 
pursue  the  enemy.  The  situation  at  Russell's  fort,  at  Castle's  Woods, 
was  also  so  serious  that  the  people  there  were  crying  for  help. 
Captain  Dan  Smith,  on  the  4th,  of  September,  wrote  to  Colonel 
William  Preston,  saying:  "The  late  Invasions  of  the  Indians  hath 
so  much  alarm'd  the  Inhabitants  of  this  River  that  without  more 
men  come  to  their  assistance  from  other  parts,  some  of  the  most 
timorous  among  us  will  remove  to  a  place  of  Safety,  and  when  once 
the  example  is  set  I  fear  it  will  be  followed  by  many.  By  what  I 
can  learn  the  terror  is  as  great  on  Holston,  so  that  we've  no  room 
to  hope  for  assistance  from  that  quarter.  *  *  *  *  I  am  just 
going  to  the  assistance  of  the  Castle's  Woods  men  with  what  force 
could  be  spared  from  this  upper  district."  At  the  foot  of  the  letter, 
Captain  Smith  made  a  list  of  the  men  he  was  taking  with  him  to 
assist  the  al'armed  garrison  at  Castle's  Woods.     They  were: 

Vincent  Hobbs  Wm.  McaDoo 

Thos.  Shannon  John  Mares   (Marrs) 

Robert  Brown  Joseph  Mares   (Marrs) 

Saul  Cecil  David  Pattorn   (Patton) 

John  Smith  Israel  Harmon 

Wm.  Baylstone  Thos.  Maxwell 

Holton  Money  (Mooney)  Joseph  Turner 

Samll.  Money  (Mooney)  Wm.  Magee 

From  an  inspection  of  the  above  list  it  seems  that  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  headwaters  of  the  Clinch  and  Bluestone  were  taking 
pretty  good  care  of  themselves,  and  were  willing  and  able  to  help 
protect  their  more  "timorous"  neighbors  lower  down  on  the  Clinch. 
Nearly  every  man  on  this  roll  was  from  the  Upper  Clinch  section, 
now  in  Tazewell  County,  and  a  number  of  the  names  are  still  repre- 
sented in  the  county — among  them  Marrs,  Brown,  Cecil,  Patton, 
Maxwell,  Shannon  and  Harman.  Three  months  previous  to  using 
the  Tazewell  men  for  relief  of  tl:e  garrison  at  Castle's  Woods,  Cap- 
tain Smith  had  written  Colonel  Preston,  preferring  charges  against 
Thomas  Maxwell  and  Israel  Harmon  for  neglect  of  duty  as  scouts 


300  History  of  Tazewell  County 

at  the  head  of  Sandy  Creek.  He  accused  them  of  cowardice,  because 
they  were  removing  their  families  from  the  head  of  the  north  fork 
of  Clinch  and  Bluestone  and  taking  them  to  places  of  safety;  and 
Smith  was  asking  that  Thomas  Maxwell  be  court-martialed.  Cap- 
tain Smith,  evidently,  had  found  that  he  had  made  a  grievous  mis- 
take as  to  the  courage  of  Maxwell  and  Harmon;  and  was  trying  to 
make  amends  for  the  wrong  he  had  done  them,  by  selecting  them  to 
become  protectors  of  the  "timorous"  inhabitants  living  in  his  own 
section  of  the  Clinch  Valley. 

About  the  1st,  of  October  the  people  in  the  Holston  Valley  and 
in  the  Upper  New  River  region  were  apparently  terror-stricken.  A 
man  by  the  name  of  George  Adams,  who  lived  on  the  Holston,  wrote 
to  Colonel  Preston  and  told  him  that  the  people  about  Moccasin 
Gap  had  all  fled  from  their  homes ;  and  that  some  of  them  had 
gathered  at  his  house.  He  begged  that  a  few  men  be  sent  out  to 
go  with  the  IMoccasin  people  to  their  homes  and  guard  them  while 
they  gathered  their  crops,  which  he  said  were  large  but  being 
destroyed  by  the  "vermin"  (wild  animals)  ;  and  that  the  men  would 
have  to  take  their  families  to  other  forts,  if  they  lost  their  grain. 
Adams  also  said;  "ammunition  is  very  scarce  with  us  which  is  the 
occasion  of  abundance  of  fear." 

On  the  6th,  of  October,  1774,  Major  Campbell  wrote  Colonel 
Preston  from  Royal  Oak  and  very  graphically  portrayed  the  state 
of  alarm  that  then  prevailed  on  the  Holston,  and  on  New  River. 
He  said: 

"The  people  in  the  Wolf-Hill  settlement,  (the  present  Abing- 
don) will  have  the  Indians  to  come  up  the  Valley  &  North  fork, 
opposite  to  them,  and  then  make  a  Right-Angle  to  their  habitations ; 
the  people  on  ye  south  fork  will  have  the  Enemy,  to  steal  Slyly  up 
the  Iron  Mountain,  and  make  one  Grand  attack  on  the  Head  of 
Holston,  and  Sweep  the  River  down  before  them ;  The  Head  of  New 
River  will  have  it,  that  the  Cherokees  will  fetch  a  Compass,  round 
Wattago  Settlement,  and  come  down  New  River,  on  a  particular 
Search  for  their  Scalps.  The  Rich- Valley  and  North  fork  people 
will  have  Sandy  the  dangerous  pass,  for  proof  of  which  they  quote 
former  and  recent  Instances;  to  wit  Stalnaker  &  Henrys  Family 
being  carried  out  the  same  road." 

This  looks  like  consternation  reigned  supreme  throughout  the 
settlements  west  of  New  River,  with  one  exception.     The  exception 


and  Southwest  Virginia  301 

was  the  settlements  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Clinch,  where  our 
pioneer  ancestors  were  not  calling  for  help,  but  were  remaining 
at  their  frontier  homes  and  forts,  resolved  to  hold  them  against  the 
savages,  or  yield  up  their  lives  in  their  defence.  This  they  were 
doing,  though  some  of  their  best  and  mightiest  woodsmen  had  gone 
with  the  Lewis  expedition  to  Ohio,  and  others  were  being  sent  to 
succor  the  threatened  and  alarmed  inhabitants  lower  down  the  river, 
where  Logan  was  still  operating  with  his  scalping  parties. 

The  next  attempt  to  inflict  damage  on  the  settlers  was  near  the 
fort  of  Captain  Evan  Shelby,  which  was  located  on  the  site  of 
Bristol,  Tennessee,  and  which  was  called  in  frontier  days  Sapling 
Grove.  It  happened  on  the  6th  of  October,  1774,  and  when  Captain 
Shelby  was  nearing  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  with  his  company  of 
Fincastle  riflemen,  who  were  an  important  unit  of  the  Lewis  expedi- 
tion. The  Indians,  who  had  been  prowling  and  spying  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, surprised  and  captured  a  negro  girl,  the  property  of  Cap- 
tain Shelby,  within  300  yards  of  his  fort.  Their  purpose  in  making 
her  a  captive  was  to  get  information  about  the  fort.  They  tried  to 
find  out  how  many  gims  were  in  the  fort,  what  amount  of  supplies 
was  there,  and  the  relative  strength  of  the  place.  Several  questions 
were  asked  the  negro  girl  by  the  Indians,  but  she  loyally  and  bravely 
refused  to  give  them  any  information.  Thereupon,  the  red  men 
knocked  her  down  twice,  and  started  away  with  her.  After  they  had 
gone  about  a  mile  from  the  fort  they  heard  a  boy  passing  who  was 
on  his  way  home  from  mill,  and  they  tied  the  girl  to  a  tree  and 
went  in  pursuit  of  the  boy.  During  their  absence,  the  girl  managed 
to  get  loose,  and  ran  immediately  to  the  fort  and  gave  an  alarm. 
Whether  the  boy  was  captured  and  taken  away  is  not  shown  by 
accessible  records,  and  the  presumption  is  that  he  escaped. 

On  the  6th  of  October,  a  very  daring  murder  was  committed  at 
Fort  Blackmore,  in  the  present  Scott  County,  when  Dale  Carter 
Avas  killed  and  scalped  within  fifty-five  steps  of  the  fort.  Carter 
was  sitting  alone  on  a  log  outside  the  fort.  The  Indians  had  crawled 
along  and  under  the  bank  of  the  river  with  the  view  of  making  a 
surprise  attack  upon  the  place  and  capturing  it  by  a  bold  push. 
Carter  happened  to  discover  the  enemy  and  immediately  gave  the 
alarm  by  "hallooing,  murder."  One  of  the  Indians  fired  at  Carter 
and  missed  him,  but  another  fired  and  wounded  him  through  the 
thigh.  One  of  the  boldest  of  the  red  men,  possibly  Logan,  ran  up 
and  tomahawked  and  scalped  the  wounded  man.     A  man  by  the 


302  History  of  Tazewell  County 

name  of  Anderson  fired  from  the  bastion  of  the  fort  at  the  daring 
Indian  while  he  was  scalping  Cai*ter,  but  failed  to  hit  him.  Dale 
Carter  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Hon.  Henry  Carter  Stuart,  lately 
governor  of  Virginia,  and  of  all  the  Carters  of  Russell  County. 

While  the  revolting  incidents  that  I  have  recounted  were  tak- 
ing place  in  The  Clinch  Valley  and  other  sections  of  Fincastle 
County,  the  army  of  Virginia  mountaineers,  led  by  Andrew  Lewis, 
was  assembling  and  marching  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  to  join 
forces  with  Lord  Dunmore  at  that  place,  as  had  been  previously 
arranged.  The  knowledge  the  Indians  had  received  of  the  object 
of  this  joint  expedition — that  is  to  discipline  the  hostile  tribes  in 
Ohio — no  doubt,  made  the  depredations  in  the  Clinch  Valley  fewer 
and  less  violent  than  they  would  otherwise  have  been.  It  is  probable 
that  the  small  bands  of  Indians,  with  the  great  Logan  leading  them, 
were  sent  here  for  the  puropse  of  so  alarming  the  inhabitants  as  to 
demand  a  recall  of  the  companies,  eight  in  number,  that  had  gone 
from  that  part  of  Fincastle  County  west  of  New  River;  and  in  that 
way  so  weaken  Lewis'  army  as  to  give  the  red  men  a  chance  to  defeat 
the  "Long  Knives"  when  they  crossed  into  Ohio.  In  fact,  if  the 
Indians  were  trying  to  work  such  a  scheme,  at  one  time  their  pur- 
pose came  very  near  being  accomplished.  On  the  26th  of  Sep- 
tember, just  after  he  had  been  officially  informed  of  the  butchery  of 
the  Roberts  family  by  Logan  and  his  band,  Major  Campbell  wrote 
to  Colonel  Preston  an  urgent  request  to  send  a  messenger  to  Lewis' 
army  to  hurry  the  return  of  the  men  from  Fincastle  County,  espec- 
ially the  companies  of  Captains  Russell  and  Shelby,  whose  families 
were  in  great  distress  and  danger. 

A  great  deal  of  the  alarm  felt  and  shown  by  the  people  of  the 
Holston  and  New  River  settlements  was  caused  by  apprehension 
that  the  Cherokees  were  secretly  associated  with  the  Shawnees  and 
Mingos ;  and  that  the  Southern  Indians  would  come  in  great  force 
against  the  Fincastle  inhabitants  while  such  a  large  number  of  the 
best  fighting  men  were  away  on  the  Ohio  expedition.  Colonel  Pres- 
ton, however,  did  not  take  this  view  of  the  situation;  but  thought 
it  probable  "some  straggling  fellows"  from  the  Cherokee  Nation 
might  have  joined  a  partly  of  Shawnees  who  had  lately  been  at  the 
Cherokee  town,  possibly  Logan's  band ;  and  that  they  had  since 
been  committing  robberies  and  murders  on  the  Clinch  and  the  Hol- 
ston. Colonel  Preston  also  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  Ohio 
Indians  could  not  send  any  number  of  men  at  that  time  to  annov 


and  Southwest  Virginia  303 

the  settlements,  as  they  would  be  kept  busily  occupied  defending 
their  own  homes  from  attacks  by  the  army  which  Lewis  had  taken 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha.  He  was  correct  in  his  conclusions,  as 
after  events  proved,  and  very  wisely  declined  to  recall  the  companies 
commanded  by  Russell  and  Shelby,  or  any  part  of  the  Fincastle 
troops  that  had  gone  with  Lewis  to  Ohio. 


Soon  after  sending  his  orders  of  the  24th  of  July,  from  Win- 
chester, Virginia,  to  Colonel  Andrew  Lewis  to  raise  a  respectable 
body  of  men  and  to  meet  him  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha,  Gov- 
ernor Dunmore  proceeded  to  Pittsburg.     He,  as  speedily  as  pos- 
sible, assembled  the  Delawares,  Six  Nations,  and  such  other  tribes 
as  were  disposed  to  be  friendly,  held  a  conference  with  them,  and 
called  their  attention  to  the  cruel  treatment  the  Shawnees  and  the 
Virginians  were  extending  each  other.     This  was  done,  Dunmore 
said,  to  secure  the  aid  of  the  Delawares  and  other  friendly  disposed 
Indians  in  an  effort  to  restore  peaceful  relations  between  the  Vir- 
ginians and  the  Ohio  Indians.     The  Delawares,  and  other  tribes  that 
were  represented  at  the  conference,  not  only  gave  assurance  of  their 
friendship  for  the  whites,  but  consented  to  send  delegations  to  the 
Shawnees  and  other  hostile  tribes,  and  to  urge  them  to  meet  Gov- 
ernor Dunmore  for  a  conference  at  some  designated  spot  on  the 
Ohio.     In  a  report  subsequently  made  to  Lord  Dartmouth,  secretary 
of  state  for  the  colonies,  Dunmore  gave  an  account  of  his  course  of 
action  after  his  conference  with  the  Delawares.     He  wrote  to  Dart- 
mouth : 

"I  determined  therefore  to  go  down  the  Ohio;  but  I  thought  it 
Prudent  to  take  a  Force  which  might  effect  our  purpose  if  our 
Negotiation  failed:  And  I  collected  from  the  Militia  of  the  Neigh- 
bouring Country  about  twelve  hundred  Men,  to  take  with  me,  Send- 
ing orders  to  a  Colonel  Lewis  to  March  with  as  many  more,  of  the 
Militia  of  the  Southern  Counties,  across  the  Country  to  Join  me  at 
the  Mouth  of  the  little  Kanhaway,  the  Place  I  appointed  to  meet 
the  Indians  at. 

"I  passed  down  the  river  with  this  body  of  Men,  and  arrived  at 
the  appointed  place  at  the  Stated  time.  The  day  after  Some  of  our 
friends  the  Delawars  arrived  according  to  their  promise;  but  they 
brought  us  the  disagreeable  information,  that  the  Shawnees  would 


304  History  of  Tazewell  County 

listen  to  no  terms,  and  were  resolved  to  prosecute  their  designs 
against  the  People  of  Virginia. 

"The  DelawarSj  Notwithstanding,  remained  Steady  in  their 
attachment ;  and  their  Chief,  named  Captain  White  Eyes,  offered  me 
the  assistance  of  himself  and  whole  tribe;  but  apprehending  evil 
effects  from  the  Jealousy  of,  and  natural  dislike  in  our  People 
to,  all  Indians,  I  accepted  only  of  him  and  two  or  three:  And  I 
received  great  Service  from  the  faithfullness,  the  firmness  and 
remarkable  good  understanding  of  White  Eyes. 

"Colonel  Lewis  not  Joining  me,  and  being  unwilling  to  encrease 
the  expence  of  the  Country  by  delay,  and,  from  the  accounts  we 
had  of  the  Numbers  of  the  Indians,  Judging  the  Force  I  had  with 
me  Sufficient  to  defeat  them  and  destroy  their  Towns,  in  case  they 
should  refuse  the  offers  of  Peace;  and  after  Sending  orders  to 
Colonel  Lewis,  to  follow  me  to  a  Place  I  appointed  near  the  Indian 
Settlements,  I  crossed  the  Ohio  and  proceeded  to  the  Shawnese 
Towns ;  in  which  march,  one  of  our  detached  Parties  encountered 
an  other  of  Indians  laying  in  Ambush,  of  whom  they  killed  Six 
or  eight  and  took  Sixteen  Prisoners. 

"When  we  came  up  to  the  Towns  we  found  them,  deserted,  and 
the  main  body  of  the  Indians,  to  the  amount  of  near  five  hundred, 
had  Some  time  before  gone  off"  towards  the  Ohio ;  and  we  Soon  learnt 
that  they  had  Crossed  the  river,  near  the  Mouth  of  the  great  Kanha- 
way,  with  the  design  of  attacking  the  Corps  under  Colonel  Lewis." 

Governor  Dunmore's  exjDeditionary  force  was  composed  of 
troops  he  raised  in  the  counties  of  Frederick  and  Dunmore  (the 
latter  now  Shenandoah  County),  and  forces  he  found  at  Pittsburg 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  Angus  McDonald  and  Major  William 
Crawford.  The  combined  forces  aggregated  twelve  hundred  splen- 
did, trained  men.  It  was  known  as  the  northern  division  of  the 
army  that  was  going  against  the  Ohio  Indians ;  and  was  under  the 
immediate  command  of  Colonel  Adam  Stephens.  He  was  a  native 
of  Scotland,  was  an  educated  physician,  and  had  settled  in  the 
Lower  Valley  of  Virginia.  Stephens  was  a  noted  Indian  fighter, 
was  with  Washington  at  Great  Meadows,  and  was  badly  wounded 
at  Braddock's  defeat;  but  after  his  recovery  from  the  wound  had 
served  throughout  the  French  and  Indian  War,  and  commanded 
the  Virginia  regiment  in  Pontiac's  War.  He  served  with  distinc- 
tion in  the  Revolutionary  army,  first  as  a  brigadier  general  and 


and  Southwest  Virginia  305 

then  as  major  general.  After  the  Revolution  he  returned  to  his 
home  at  Martinsburg,  Virginia,  now  in  West  Virginia,  and  for 
some  years  was  an  active  and  distinguished  participant  in  the  civil 
affairs  of  the  State.  The  northern  division  had  along  as  scouts  and 
officers  men  that  were  then  and  afterwards  noted  characters — among 
them  being  Simon  Girty,  Simon  Kenton,  Peter  Parchment,  John  and 
Martin  Wetzel,  and  Daniel  Morgan. 

As  previously  related,  Colonel  Charles  Lewis  had  marched  on  the 
6th  of  September  from  Camp  Union  with  the  Augusta  troops  and 
Captain  Matthew  Arbuckle's  company  from  Botetourt,  taking  along 
four  hundred  pack-horses  loaded  with  flour,  salt  and  tools;  and  all 
the  beef  cattle  that  had  been  collected  at  the  camp.  Captain 
Arbuckle  marched  at  the  head  of  the  column  with  his  company,  and 
was  the  best  qualified  man  then  living  to  act  as  guide  for  the  advanc- 
ing army.  In  1765,  with  one  or  two  companions,  he  had  explored 
the  Kanawha  Valley  to  the  Ohio  River;  and  was  the  first  white  man 
to  pass  along  that  valley,  except  a  few  who  were  prisoners  of  the 
Indians.  For  these  reasons  he  was  selected  as  captain  of  a  company 
of  scouts  to  guide  the  Lewis  division  of  the  army.  The  orders  given 
Colonel  Charles  Lewis  directed  him  to  go  to  the  mouth  of  Elk  Creek, 
to  build  a  small  storehouse  there,  to  have  sufficient  canoes  made  to 
transport  the  flour  and  other  supplies  down  the  Kanawha  to  the 
Ohio  River;  and  to  remain  in  camp  at  that  place  until  he  was  joined 
by  the  other  section  of  the  expedition  that  was  to  follow. 

On  the  10th  of  September,  Colonel  John  Field  left  Camp  Union 
with  his  Culpeper  men.  He  was  offended  because  Colonel  Andrew 
Lewis  would  not  recognize  him  as  the  ranking  officer  and  yield  him 
command  of  the  expedition.  Field  had  explored  the  Lower  Kanawha 
Valley  the  previous  year,  and  had  undertaken  to  make  a  settlement 
there;  but  was  prevented  from  doing  so  by  an  attack  made  by  a 
party  of  Indians.  He  made  a  narrow  escape,  but  his  son,  Ephraim, 
and  a  negro  woman,  his  cook,  were  made  prisoners  and  taken  to 
Ohio  by  the  savages.  Field  knew  the  country  pretty  well,  and  pur- 
sued a  route  of  his  own  selection  to  the  mouth  of  Kanawha,  arriving 
there  in  time  to  take  a  part  in  the  battle  that  was  fought  at  that 
point. 

Colonel  Andrew  Lewis  marched  on  the  12th  of  September,  from 
Camp  Union  with  the  Botetourt  troops.  Captain  Evan  Shelby's  and 
Captain  William  Russell's  companies  from  Fincastle,  and  Captain 
Thomas  Buford's  company  from  Bedford;  and  took  with  him  all  the 

T.H.— 20 


306  History  of  Tazewell  County 

beeves  and  pack-horses  that  had  been  collected  after  Colonel  Charles 
Lewis  started  on  his  march.  On  the  evening  of  that  day  a  messenger 
from  Colonel  Charles  Lewis  came  into  the  camp  and  reported  that 
one  of  Colonel  Field's  men^  who  was  out  with  a  hunting  party,  had 
been  shot  and  killed  by  an  Indian,  but  that  the  Indian  had  been 
killed  before  he  could  scalp  the  white  man.  It  seems  that  Indian 
scouts  and  scalping  parties  hovered  about  each  section  of  the  expedi- 
tion as  it  marched  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha,  and  kept  their 
people  in  Ohio  thoroughly  posted  as  to  the  movements  of  the  army. 

On  tlie  23rd  of  September,  Colonel  Andrew  Lewis,  with  his 
forces,  joined  his  brother  Charles  and  the  Augusta  men  at  their 
camp  on  the  banks  of  Elk  Creek,  about  one  mile  above  where  it 
flows  into  the  Kanawha.  This  camp  was  about  108  miles  from  Camp 
Union,  according  to  a  computation  made  by  Colonel  Fleming,  com- 
mander of  the  Botetourt  troops.  Colonel  Lewis  had  been  compelled 
to  move  his  troops  very  slowly,  making  an  average  of  only  about 
ten  miles  a  day  after  starting  from  Camp  Union.  The  route  he  had 
followed  was  through  a  pathless  wilderness  and  very  rugged;  and 
he  had  to  cross  Gauley  Mountain — a  difficult  and  hazardous  under- 
taking, with  cattle  and  pack-horses  to  handle.  The  combined  forces 
remained  at  Elk  Creek  until  the  30th,  engaged  in  completing  the 
storehouse  and  making  canoes  to  transport  the  supplies  down  the 
river.  On  the  24th  Lewis  sent  out  scouts  in  different  directions  to 
look  for  the  enemy,  and  on  the  25th,  one  of  the  scouts  that  had 
crossed  to  the  west  side  of  the  Kanawha  returned,  and  reported  that 
about  four  miles  from  camp  a  small  party  of  Indians  had  passed  the 
scouts  in  the  night  with  horses,  and  going  down  the  river.  The  even- 
ing of  the  25th,  Colonel  Lewis  sent  scouts  to  discover  the  where- 
abouts of  Lord  Dunmore  and  to  ascertain  when  he  would  arrive 
with  his  troops  at  the  place  designated  for  meeting,  the  mouth  of  the 
Little  Kanawha. 

Failing  to  receive  any  message  from  Lord  Dunmore,  Colonel 
Lewis  decided  to  proceed  without  delay  to  the  mouth  of  the  Great 
Kanawha,  and  began  his  march  to  that  point  on  the  1st  of  October. 
The  troops  were  formed  into  two  columns  for  the  marcli,  each  column 
being  divided  into  two  divisions.  The  Botetourt  troops  constituted 
the  right  and  the  Augusta  men  the  left  column.  Captain  John  Lewis, 
a  nephew  of  Colonel  Andrew,  marched  with  his  company,  a  short 
distance  in  front  of  the  two  columns,  acting  as  the  advance  guard. 
The  cattle  and  pack-horses  were  placed  between  the  front  and  rear 


and  Southwest  Virginia  307 

divisions ;  and  each  flank  was  covered  with  a  guard  of  one  hundred 
men.  This  was  an  admirable  formation  for  protecting  the  army 
from  surprise  attacks  by  the  Indians ;  and  was  used  each  day  of  the 
march  until  the  expedition  arrived  at  tlie  mouth  of  the  Kanawha,  its 
excellence  being  shown  by  the  fact  that  not  a  man  or  animal  was  lost 
during  the  six  days  occupied  in  the  march  from  Elk  Creek  to  the 
Ohio. 

This  was  the  first  army  of  a  thousand  men,  composed  entirely 
of  frontier  hunters  and  skilled  woodsmen,  that  had  ever  marched 
against  the  Indians.  It  was  not  only  unique  in  its  composition,  but 
must  have  presented  a  rare  and  imposing  spectacle  as  it  marched 
over  mountains  and  through  the  trackless  wilderness.  The  men  were 
not  uniformed,  but  their  dress  was  strikingly  similar  in  character 
and  appearance.  They  wore  the  frontier  fringed  hunting  shirt — 
dyed  various  hues,  brown,  yellow,  and  red — girdled  by  a  belt  around 
the  waist;  and  fashioned  by  their  wives  and  daughters  from  jeans 
or  heavy  flax  cloth,  which  the  noble  women  had  manufactured  at 
home  with  spinning  wheel  and  loom.  Their  accoutrements  were: 
a  leather  pouch  swung  on  their  left  side  by  a  shoulder  belt,  and  a 
powder  horn,  similarly  carried  on  the  right  side.  The  leather  pouch 
held  their  bullets  and  lead,  bullet  moulds,  patching,  tow  for  wiping 
out  the  rifle  barrel,  and  such  small  tools  as  might  be  needed  for 
cleaning  and  repairing  their  gims.  The  powder-horn  was  made 
from  the  horn  of  a  cow  or  ox,  scraped  so  thin  and  highly  polished 
as  to  make  it  transparent,  and  in  which  the  powder  was  safely  dry 
in  the  very  worst  weather.  All  the  men  had  either  fur  caps  or  soft 
hats  made  from  the  furs  of  animals  they  had  killed;  and  they  wore 
moccasins  and  heavy  woolen  or  buckskin  leggings  that  reached  half- 
way up  the  thigh.  Each  man  was  armed  with  that  "terrible  gun," 
the  mountain  flint-lock  rifle,  and  carried  in  his  belt  a  tomahawk  and 
scalping  knife.  Some  of  the  officers  wore  swords  but  each  of  them 
was  equipped  with  rifle,  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife.  As  they 
marched,  scouts  were  kept  far  out  on  the  flanks  and  in  front,  and 
axemen  went  in  front  to  blaze  the  trail  and  remove  fallen  trees  and 
other  obstacles. 

Colonel  Lewis  and  his  army  reached  the  junction  of  the  Great 
Kanawha  with  the  Ohio  on  the  6th  day  of  October,  1774,  and  went 
into  camp  on  the  point  that  lies  in  the  fork  of  those  two  streams.  A 
letter  from  Governor  Dunmore  to  Colonel  Lewis  was  found  in  a 
hollow  tree,  having  been  deposited  there  by  messengers  sent  by  the 


308 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


governor,  but  who  had  arrived  at  the  place  several  days  in  advance 
of  Lewis'  army.  Dr.  Lyman  Draper  says  the  messengers  were, 
Simon  Girty,  Simon  Kenton,  and  Peter  Parchment.  But  Samuel 
Murphy,  an  Englishman  who  was  with  Dunmore's  division,  made 


The  above  picture  is  made  from  a  photograph  of  the  heroic  bronze 
statue  of  General  Andrew  Lewis,  that  stands  at  the  west  side  of  the 
magnificent  Washington  Equestrian  Statue  in  the  Capitol  Square, 
Richmond,  Virginia.  It  correctly  shows  the  pioneer  garb  and  accoutre- 
ments worn  by  General  Lewis  and  his  mountain  men  at  the  battle  of 
Point  Pleasant. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  309 

the  list:  Simon  Girty,  John  Turner,  and  Joseph  and  Thomas 
Nicholson.  It  is  certain  that  Simon  Girty,  the  despised  "white  rene- 
gade/' was  one  of  the  messengers. 

Colonel  Lewis  sent  scouts  with  a  reply  to  the  letter  from  Dun- 
more  that  had  been  found  in  the  hollow  tree.  The  contents  of  that 
letter  were  never  revealed  to  the  public;  but  it  is  believed  by  many 
that  Lewis  was  ordered  to  cross  the  Ohio  and  join  Dunmore,  who 
was  then  endeavoring  to  make  peace  with  the  Indians ;  and  that 
Lewis  in  his  reply  letter  expressed  dissatisfaction  for  himself  and 
unwillingness  on  the  part  of  his  men  to  comply  with  the  orders  of 
the  governor.  On  the  8th,  scouts,  led  by  Simon  Girty,  came  down 
the  Ohio  in  a  canoe,  and  brought  letters  from  Lord  Dunmore  to 
Lewis.  The  records  do  not  disclose  what  the  orders  were,  but  it 
is  generally  agreed  by  historians  that  Lewis  was  directed  to  take  his 
forces  across  the  Ohio  and  join  Lord  Dunmore  at  the  Indian  to^vns 
near  the  Pickaway  Plains.  Though  displeased  with  the  change  of 
plans  originally  adopted.  Colonel  Lewis  made  preparations  on  the 
9th  to  break  camp  the  following  morning,  the  10th,  and  join  Dun- 
more, in  compliance  with  the  orders  given  him. 

If  such  was  the  purpose  of  Colonel  Lewis,  he  was  destined  to  be 
foiled  in  its  execution.  Cornstalk,  the  great  Shawnee  chief,  had 
been  kept  fully  informed  by  spies  and  runners  of  the  movements  of 
the  Lewis  army  from  the  time  it  started  from  Camp  Union  until  its 
arrival  at  the  Ohio  River.  He  had  gathered  together  from  eight 
hundred  to  one  thousand  of  the  bravest  and  most  skillful  warriors 
of  the  Shawnee,  Mingo,  Delaware  and  Ottowa  tribes,  and  marched 
them  rapidly  through  the  forest  to  the  Ohio  River,  reaching  that 
stream  at  a  point  some  six  or  eight  miles  above  where  Lewis  and  his 
men  were  camping.  During  the  night  of  the  9th  he  transported 
this  large  force  across  the  river  on  rafts,  and  marched  them  quietly 
down  the  stream  with  the  intention  of  making  a  surprise  attack  at 
daybreak  upon  his  white  foes,  before  they  had  been  fully  aroused 
from  their  slumber.  Cornstalk's  plans  were  well  conceived,  and 
would  possibly  have  been  successfully  carried  out  but  for  the  inter- 
position of  two  men  from  the  Clinch  Valley,  James  Mooney  and  — 
Hickman,  who  were  members  of  Captain  Russell's  company.  They 
had  gotten  up  before  daylight  the  morning  of  the  10th,  and  had 
started  up  the  river  on  a  hunting  or  scouting  expedition.  After 
going  about  a  mile  from  the  camp  they  came  suddenly  upon  Corn- 
stalk's warriors,  who  were  already  moving  towards  the  encampment 


310  History  of  Tazewell  County 

of  their  white  foes.  The  Indians  fired  at  tlie  two  men  and  Hickman 
was  killed,  the  fatal  shot  being  fared  by  Tavenor  Ross,  a  white  rene- 
gade. Mooney  ran  swiftly  back  to  camp  and  gave  the  alarm,  report- 
ing that  he  had  seen  enough  Indians  to  cover  five  acres  of  ground, 
and  that  his  companion,  Hickman,  had  been  killed  by  the  red  men. 
Thwaites  and  other  historians  have  stated  that  the  two  men  who 
discovered  Cornstalk's  army  were  members  of  Captain  Shelby's 
company;  and  Thwaites  says  that  the  man  who  was  killed  was  James 
Hughey.  A  man  with  that  name  does  appear  upon  the  roll  of  Capr 
tain  Shelby's  company;  but  Thwaites  is  contradicted  by  Colonel 
William  Fleming,  who,  in  his  account  of  the  battle,  says  positively 
that  the  two  men  beloned  to  Captain  Russell's  company.  And  Flem- 
ing is  sup2)orted  by  Isaac  Shelby,  son  of  Captain  Evan  Shelby,  and 
lieutenant  of  his  fatlier's  company.  In  a  letter  to  his  uncle,  John 
Shelby,  written  at  Point  Pleasant,  on  the  16th  of  October,  1774, 
Lieutenant  Shelby  said:  "Monday  morning  about  half  an  hour 
before  sunrise  two  of  Capt.  Russell's  Company  Discovered  a  large 
party  of  indians  about  a  mile  from  Camj^  one  of  which  men  was 
killed  the  Other  made  his  Escape  &  brought  in  his  intelligence;  in 
two  or  three  minutes  after  two  of  Capt.  Shelby's  Comp^  came  in 
and  Confirmed  the  Account."  This  proves  beyond  question  that  the 
first  man  killed  at  Point  Pleasant  was  from  the  Clinch  Valley;  and 
that  a  Clinch  Valley  man  was  the  first  to  announce  the  approach  of 
Cornstalk  and  his  army  of  desperate  warriors. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  311 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    BATTLE    OF    POINT    PLEASANT KENTUCKY    OPENED    FOR 

SETTLEMENT. 

Immediately  after  Mooney  gave  the  alarm,  Colonel  Andrew 
Lewis  called  his  men  to  arms.  He  believed  the  report  as  to  the 
number  of  Indians  was  exaggerated,  and  that  it  was  only  a  scouting 
party.  So  believing,  instead  of  advancing  with  his  entire  force,  he 
ordered  two  detachments  to  be  formed,  to  be  made  up  of  select  men 
from  each  company,  and  each  detachment  to  have  one  hundred  and 
fifty  men.  As  soon  as  the  detachments  were  formed  they  went  in 
quest  of  the  Indians.  Colonel  Charles  Lewis  lead  the  Augusta 
detachment,  and  had  with  him  Captains  Dickinson,  Harrison  and 
Skidmore.  Colonel  William  Fleming  led  the  Botetourt  and  Fin- 
castle  men,  and  had  with  him  Captains  Shelby,  Russell,  Buford,  and 
Love.  When  the  advance  began,  the  Augusta  line  marched  on  the 
right  near  the  foot  of  the  hills,  and  the  Botetourt  and  Fincastle  line 
marched  on  the  left,  moving  up  the  Ohio  River,  keeping  at  a  dis- 
tance of  about  two  hundred  yards  from  the  stream.  The  advance 
was  made  briskly,  and  when  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  from  the 
camp,  the  sun  being  one  hour  high,  the  detachment  led  by  Colonel 
Charles  Lewis  came  in  contact  with  the  enemy.  The  Indians  fired 
a  few  shots,  killing  the  two  white  scouts  that  were  in  advance  of  the 
columns.  This  was  quickly  followed  with  heavy  firing  by  the  con- 
cealed enemy  on  the  right,  which  extended  instantly  to  the  left ;  and 
the  two  detachments  of  white  men  became  hotly  engaged  in  deadly 
strife  with  their  hated  savage  foes. 

The  attack  made  by  the  Indians  was  both  fast  and  furious,  and 
was  met  with  equal  fury  by  the  enraged  white  men.  Hearing  the 
heavy  clash  of  resounding  firearms,  Colonel  Andrew  Lewis  realized 
that  he  had  made  a  mistake  in  his  estimate  of  the  number  of  the 
attacking  enemy;  and  he  sent  Colonel  Field  hurriedly  to  the  front 
with  a  reinforcement  of  two  hundred  men.  Early  in  the  engagement 
Colonel  Charles  Lewis  was  mortally  wounded,  but  he  remained  with 
his  men  until  the  line  was  substantially  formed.  He  had  not  "taken 
to  a  tree,"  that  is,  used  a  tree  for  protection,  but  was  standing  on 
a  clear  piece  of  ground,  cheering  his  men  and  urging  them  to 
advance,   and   wearing  a   scarlet    waistcoat — a   fine   target   for   the 


312  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Indians.  Finding  that  the  wound  was  serious,  he  handed  his  gun  to  a 
man  near  him,  remarked  to  his  men,  "I  am  wounded,  but  go  on  and 
be  brave,"  walked  unassisted  back  to  the  camp,  and  died  in  a  few 
hours  thereafter. 

Soon  after  Colonel  Charles  Lewis  was  forced  to  retire  from  the 
field  of  battle.  Colonel  Fleming  was  desperately  wounded.  Two 
balls  passed  through  his  left  arm,  and  one  entered  his  breast.  After 
encouraging  his  men  with  a  calm  voice  to  press  on  to  victory,  he 
retired  to  the  camp,  and  was  thought  to  be  mortally  wounded.  At 
this  time  the  Indians  on  the  firing  line,  which  extended  for  more  than 
a  mile  from  the  foot  hills  toward  the  river,  greatly  exceeded  the 
Virginians  in  number;  and  they  succeeded  in  forcing  the  white  men 
on  the  right  of  the  line  to  retreat  150  or  250  yards.  Colonel  Flem- 
ing had  rallied  and  reformed  the  line  just  before  he  was  wounded; 
and  then  Colonel  Field  came  upon  the  scene  of  conflict  with  rein- 
forcements. As  ranking  officer,  after  the  retirement  from  the  field 
of  Colonels  Lewis  and  Fleming  on  account  of  their  wounds,  Colonel 
Field  assumed  command  of  the  entire  line.  He  was  soon  supported 
by  additional  troops  sent  forward  by  Colonel  Andrew  Lewis.  The 
additional  reinforcements  were  lead  by  Captains  McDowell,  Mat- 
thews, and  Stuart  from  Augusta ;  and  Captains  John  Lewis,  Pauling, 
Arbuckle,  and  McClannahan  from  Botetourt.  With  the  lines  so 
substantially  reinforced,  the  Virginians  moved  forward;  and  not 
only  recovered  the  ground  they  had  lost  but  began  to  drive  the 
enemy  back  and  up  the  river.  The  Indians  were  forced  back  until 
they  got  in  line  with  the  Fincastle  troops  that  Colonel  Fleming  had 
left  in  action  when  he  was  compelled  to  retire  from  the  battle. 
While  the  Indians  were  falling  back.  Colonel  Field  was  killed.  He 
was  standing  behind  a  tree,  trying  to  get  a  shot  at  an  Indian  on  his 
left  who  was  attracting  his  attention  bj'  laughing  and  jeering  at 
him.  While  Field's  attention  was  thus  diverted,  he  was  shot  by  two 
Indians  who  were  concealed  behind  logs  on  his  right.  There  being 
no  other  field  ofiicer  in  the  engagement,  the  command  of  all  the  lines 
devolved  upon  Captain  Evan  Shelby,  who  was  senior  captain  among 
the  surviving  commissioned  officers. 

From  the  commencement  of  the  battle,  which  began  about  an  hour 
after  sunrise,  until  twelve  o'clock  the  conflict  was  waged  with 
unceasing  vigor  by  both  the  white  men  and  the  red  men.  The  hostile 
lines,  though  more  than  a  mile  long,  were  in  such  close  contact,  being 
separated  not  more  than  twentj^  j^ards,  that  numerous  single  com- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  313 

bats  were  engaged  in  by  the  combatants.  In  these  encounters,  either 
the  Indian  or  the  white  man  would  single  out  a  foeman  worthy  of 
his  steel,  and  the  two  would  join  in  a  hand-to-hand  struggle;  and 
with  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife  fight  until  one,  or  both,  of  the 
combatants  fell.  An  encounter  of  this  kind  took  place  between  Wil- 
liam Bowen  and  an  Indian  of  powerful  statue;  and  the  stalwart  man 
from  Tazewell  vanquished  his  savage  adversary. 

After  twelve  o'clock  the  fighting  became  less  violent;  but  Isaac 
Shelby  declared  it  "continued  sharp  enough  until  one  o'clock."    The 
Indians  about  midday  tried  to  slip  around  the  right  flank  of  the 
Virginians  and  get  to  the  camp.     This  effort  was  defeated  by  the 
whites,  who  in  turn  outflanked  the  enemy,  and  forced  the  Indians  to 
fall  back  on  their  entire  line.     They  used  their  best  men  to  cover 
their  retreat  but  were  so  hard  pressed  that  they  had  to  leave  a  num- 
ber of  their  dead  on  the  field,  something  very  unusual  for  the  red 
men  to  do.    About  one  o'clock,  while  retreating,  the  Indians  reached 
"a  most  advantageous  spot  of  ground,"  from  which,  as  was  con- 
cluded by  Captain  Evan  Shelby  and  the  other  officers,  it  would  be 
very  difficult  and  dangerous  to  dislodge  them.     This  resulted  in  the 
lines  of  both  the  whites  and  the  Indians  remaining,  as  they  were 
then  formed,  sufficiently  near  each  other  to  continue  the  fighting; 
and  the  firing  was  kept  up,  with  advantage  to  the  white  men,  until 
sunset.     During  the  night  the  Indians  made  a  skillful  retirement 
across  the  Ohio,  carrying  their  wounded  with  them  and  throwing 
many  of  their  dead  into  the  river. 

The  Virginians,  though  greatly  exhausted,  and  deeply  grieved 
by  the  losses  they  had  sustained  of  gallant  officers  and  men,  were 
content  with  the  result  of  the  battle.  They  enjoyed  the  proud 
satisfaction  of  knowing  that  none  of  their  men,  save  poor  Hickman, 
had  been  scalped  by  the  Indians ;  but  that  the  white  men  had  taken 
nearly  twenty  scalps  from  their  dead  foes. 

When  a  list  of  the  casualties  the  Virginians  had  suffered  in  the 
battle  was  made,  it  was  found  that  of  the  Augusta  line  Colonel 
Charles  Lewis,  Colonel  John  Field,  Captain  Samuel  Wilson,  Lieu- 
tenant Hugh  Allen,  and  eighteen  privates  had  been  killed;  and  that 
Captains  John  Dickinson  and  John  Skidmore,  Lieutenants  Samuel 

Vance  and Laird,  and  fifty-one  privates  of  the  same  line 

had  been  wounded.  It  was  found  that  of  the  Botetourt,  Bedford 
and  Fincastle  men,  Captains  John  Murray,  Robert  McClannahan, 
James  Ward,  and  Thomas  Buford,  Lieutenants  Matthew  Bracken, 


314  History  of  Tazewell  County 

and  Edward  Goldman,  Ensign  John  Cimdiff,  and  seventeen  privates 
were  killed ;  and  Colonel  William  Fleming,  Lieutenant  James  Robin- 
son and  thirtj'-five  privates  were  wounded. 

At  the  request  of  Colonel  Andrew  Lewis,  the  casualties  of  the 
battle,  as  above  enumerated,  were  forwarded  to  Colonel  William 
Preston  by  Colonel  William  Christian,  and  are,  therefore,  official. 
From  this  report  it  appears  that  eleven  officers  and  thirty  privates 
were  killed,  a  total  of  forty-six.  And  that  six  officers  and  eight}'- 
six  privates  were  wounded,  a  total  of  ninety-two.  Lieutenant  Isaac 
Sh^lb}'  wrote  his  uncle  John  that  about  forty-six  were  killed  and 
about  eighty  were  wounded.  Shelby  also  reported  that  "five  men 
that  came  in  Daddy's  Company  were  Killed." 

There  is  an  existing  roll  of  Captain  Shelby's  company,  but  none 
of  Captain  Russell's.  But  from  a  daily  report  of  the  forces  com- 
manded by  Colonel  Fleming  the  day  before  the  battle  at  Point 
Pleasant,  it  appears  that  Shelby  had  41  men  fit  for  duty  and  Russell 
41.  The  brief  accounts  of  the  engagement  given  by  Colonel  Christian 
and  others  do  not  tell  whether  any  of  the  men  from  Clinch  Valley 
were  killed.  These  reports  do  show,  however,  that  Russell's  com- 
pany was  in  the  engagement  from  the  time  the  first  volley  was  fired 
until  the  fight  was  ended,  and  that  they  were  in  the  thick-^st  of  the 
fray.  From  available  records  it  is  shown  that  six  men  from  the 
territory  of  the  present  Tazewell  County  were  in  the  battle.  They 
were  the  three  Bowen  brothers,  William,  Rees  and  Moses  Bowen; 
and  David  Ward,  Robert  Cravens,  and  Lyles  Dolsberry. 

After  Colonel  Andrew  Lewis  marched  from  Camp  Union,  the 
troops  he  left  at  that  place  were  joined  by  three  more  companies 
from  Fincastle  County.  They  were  commanded,  respectively,  by 
Captains  John  Floj'd,  James  Harrod,  and  William  Flerbert,  which 
made  the  contingent  from  the  county  complete.  The  Fincastle  men 
were  so  eager  to  participate  in  the  Ohio  campaign,  that  their  com- 
mander, Colonel  Christian,  determined  to  break  camp  at  Camp 
Union  and  follow  Lewis  down  the  Kanawha,  This  course  was  fol- 
lowed on  the  27th  of  September,  and,  after  an  eight  days'  march. 
Christian  with  his  troops  arrived  at  Elk  Creek  on  the  5th  day  of 
October.  On  the  6th  day  of  October,  he  began  his  march  from  Elk 
Creek  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha;  and  on  the  10th,  when  about 
twelve  or  fifteen  miles  from  Point  Pleasant,  he  was  met  by  scouts 
and  informed  that  the  army  had  been  attacked  that  morning  by  a 
large  body  of  Indians,  and  that  the  battle  was  still  raging.     There- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  315 

upon,  Colonel  Christian  pushed  on  with  his  ti-oops  and  arrived  upon 
the  scene  about  midnight.  He  got  there  too  late  for  the  battle;  but 
not  too  late  to  assist  in  giving  Qomfort  to  the  wounded  and  suffering, 
and  fresh  hope  to  the  men  who  confidently  expected  the  conflict 
would  be  renewed  the  following  morning. 

Colonel  P'leming,  in  a  journal  he  kept  of  special  incidents  of  the 
campaign,  thus,  in  part,  describes  features  of  the  battle:  "The 
enemy  wherever  they  met  with  an  advantageous  piece  of  ground  in 
their  retreat  made  a  resolute  stand,  during  which  some  of  them  were 
employed  to  move  their  dead,  dying  and  wounded.  In  the  afternoon 
they  had  gained  such  an  advantageous  post  that  it  was  thought 
imprudent  to  attempt  to  dislodge  them,  and  firing  ceased  on  both 
sides  about  half  an  hour  before  sun'set.  From  this  place  the  enemy 
made  a  final  retreat  and  crossed  the  Ohio  with  their  wounded.  Some 
of  their  dead  were  slightly  covered  in  the  field  of  battle,  some  were 
dragged  down  and  thrown  into  the  Ohio,  and  others  they  had 
scalped  themselves  to  prevent  our  people.  Whilst  this  passed  in  the 
field,  Colo.  Lewis  was  fully  emploj^ed  in  camp,  in  sending  neicessary 
reinforcements  where  wanted  on  the  different  quarters.  The  troops 
were  encamped  on  the  banks  of  the  New  River  and  Ohio,  extending 
up  both  Rivers  near  a  half  mile.  The  point  betwixt  the  rivers  was 
full  of  large  trees  and  very  brushy.  From  the  furtherest  extent  of 
the  tents  on  both  rivers,  he  (Colonel  Lewis)  cleared  a  line  across, 
and  with  the  brush  and  trees  made  a  breastwork  and  lined  it  with 
the  men  that  were  left  in  camp." 

An  Englishman,  named  Smyth,  who  falsely  claimed  to  have  been 
a  participant  in  the  engagement,  in  writing  about  the  battle,  accused 
Colonel  Andrew  Lewis  of  cowardice,  because  he  did  not  adopt  the 
tactics  of  Braddock  and  Grant,  rush  to  the  front  and  fight  the 
Indians  in  the  open;  and  others,  who  were  jealous  of  Lewis,  were 
disposed  to  repeat  the  unjust  accusation.  The  testimony  of  Colonel 
Fleming,  and  the  previous  and  subsequent  record  of  Andrew  Lewis 
prove  that  he  was  one  of  the  bravest  of  the  brave  men  of  his  day. 
Roosevelt,  in  his  "Winning  Of  the  West,"  says:  "It  was  purely  a 
soldiers'  battle,  won  by  hard  individual  fighting;  there  was  no  dis- 
play of  genei-alship,  except  on  Cornstalk's  part." 

With  all  due  respect  for  Colonel  Roosevelt's  aptness  as  a  mili- 
tary leader,  he  is  greatly  at  fault  in  his  estimate  of  the  management 
of  the  battle  by  the  commander  of  the  army  and  of  the  leadership 
of  the  officers  who  executed  his  orders.     From  the  report  of  Mooney, 


316  History  of  Tazewell  County 

of  Russell's  company,  and  that  of  the  two  men  of  Shelby's  company, 
Lewis  was  uncertain  as  to  the  number  of  Indians  that  were  advanc- 
ing for  an  attack,  or  what  the  nature  of  the  attack  would  be. 
Believing  that  the  attacking  force  was  nothing  more  than  a  large 
scouting  party  sent  across  the  Ohio  to  hold  him  on  the  south  side  of 
the  river  while  Dunmore's  division  was  engaged  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Ohio,  he  sent  forward  two  divisions,  each  having  one  hundred 
and  fifty  picked  men,  to  meet  the  advancing  foe  and  ascertain  their 
strength.  Then,  as  a  wise  precaution,  he  proceeded  to  fortify  the 
camp,  in  the  manner  described  by  Colonel  Fleming;  and  when  he 
found  that  a  really  large  body  of  Indians  was  making  the  attack, 
he  quickly  sent  ample  reinforcements  to  support  the  two  divisions 
that  had  been  first  dispatched  to  the  front.  He  knew  the  character 
of  the  ground  he  was  camping  on,  with  its  many  advantages  for  the 
Indians  in  their  well  known  peculiar  methods  of  fighting;  and,  so 
knowing,  he  showed  both  excellent  judgment  and  the  skill  of  a 
trained  frontiersman  in  the  management  of  the  battle. 

That  the  Indians  were  confident  they  would  be  the  victors  was 
manifested  by  their  conduct  before  they  made  an  attack,  and  during 
the  progress  of  the  battle.  When  they  crossed  the  Ohio  they  car- 
ried with  them  their  deer  skins,  blankets  and  other  kinds  of  goods ; 
and  also  brought  along  their  boys  and  squaws.  It  was  intended  that 
the  boys  and  squaws  should  follow  the  warriors  as  they  drove  the 
pale  faces  back  and  club  the  wounded  whites  to  death ;  and  thus  help 
to  win  the  fight  quickly.  They  expected  to  drive  the  white  men  into 
the  Ohio  and  the  Kanawha ;  and  to  prevent  their  escape  across  these 
rivers  had  placed  lines  of  their  braves  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the 
streams  to  shoot  the  whites  as  they  attempted  to  cross.  The  courage 
and  defiance  of  the  Indians  was  beyond  anything  the  old  Indian 
fighters  had  ever  witnessed.  Their  chiefs  ran  continually  along  the 
lines,  exhorting  their  men  to  "lie  close"  and  "shoot  well,"  to  "fight 
and  be  strong,"  while  their  men  over  the  Ohio  called  to  them  to 
"drive  the  white  dogs  in."  Cornstalk's  splendid  voice  could  be 
heard  above  the  din  of  the  conflict  as  he  urged  his  comrades  on  to 
battle. 

The  day  after  the  battle  was  fought,  large  ranging  parties  were 
sent  out  to  locate  the  Indians.  Finding  that  the  enemy  had  retreated 
across  the  Ohio,  the  scouting  parties  returned  to  the  camp.  On  the 
12th  the  cattle  and  horses  that  had  been  dispersed  and  that  strayed 
during  the  fight  were  collected.  Colonel  Fleming  in  his  Orderly 
Book  says:     "This  day  the  Scalps  of  the  Enemy  were  collected  and 


and  Southwest  Virginia  317 

found  to  be  17.  They  were  dressed  and  hung  upon  a  pole  near  the 
river  bank  &  the  plunder  was  collected  &  found  to  be  23  Guns  80 
Blankets  27  Tomahawks  with  Match  coats,  Skins,  shot  pouches, 
powderhorns,  war-clubs  &c.  The  Tomahawks  Guns  &  Shot  pouches 
were  sold  &  amounted  to  near  100  pounds." 

On  the  13th  of  October,  the  scouts  or  messengers  that  had  been 
sent  to  notify  Lord  Dunmore  of  the  battle  and  victory  returned. 
They  brought  orders  for  Colonel  Lewis  to  cross  the  Ohio  and  to 
march  toward  the  Shawnee  towns;  and  to  join  his  Lordship  at  a 
certain  place,  afterwards  known  to  be  the  Pickaway  Plains.  The 
14th,  15th,  and  16th,  the  men  in  camp  were  kept  busily  occupied 
finishing  a  storehouse,  and  erecting  a  breastwork,  which  latter  was 
raised  two  logs  high,  with  part  of  a  bastion.  Leaving  the  sick  and 
wounded,  with  a  sufficient  force  to  hold  and  protect  the  camp  against 
small  bands  of  the  enemy.  Colonel  Lewis  crossed  the  Ohio  on  the 
17th  with  about  one  thousand  men,  and  proceeded  on  his  way  to 
join  Dunmore  and  his  army. 

The  defeat  they  had  encountered  so  completely  broke  the  spirit 
of  the  Indians  that,  as  soon  as  they  reached  their  towns,  a  council 
of  the  head-men  and  chiefs  was  called  and  held,  to  see  if  a  favorable 
treaty  could  not  be  made  with  the  Virginians.  Cornstalk,  who  had, 
at  the  coimcil  which  met  immediately  before  hostilities  commenced, 
earnestly  opposed  the  war,  at  the  present  council  as  vigorously 
opposed  making  peace  with  the  whites.  He  was  a  splendid  orator, 
but  all  his  eloquent  appeals  to  his  fellow-chiefs  were  made  in  vain. 
He  urged  them,  if  necessary,  to  kill  all  their  women  and  children, 
and  that  they  sacrifice  their  own  lives,  fighting  till  the  last  man  fell, 
rather  than  yield  to  the  Long  Knives.  Failing  to  win  their  consent 
for  a  continuation  of  the  war,  disgusted  with  their  cowardice,  he 
struck  his  tomahawk  into  the  war  post,  and  declared  that  he  would 
go  to  Dunmore  and  make  peace  for  the  cravens.  To  this  proposition, 
prompt  and  unanimous  approval  was  given;  and  Cornstalk  with  his 
fellow-chiefs  repaired  to  Dunmore's  camp. 

Soon  after  the  chiefs  reached  Lord  Dunmore's  camp,  he  sent 
a  messenger  to  inform  Colonel  Lewis  that  he  was  engaged  in  a  peace 
parley  with  the  Indians,  and  ordered  him  to  halt  with  his  forces  and 
to  go  into  camp.  Dunmore  feared  that,  if  the  Virginians  came  tq 
his  camp  while  the  Indians  were  there.  Colonel  Lewis  would  not  be 
able  to  control  his  men,  who  were  enraged  at  the  loss  of  such  a 
large  number  of  their  esteemed  officers  and  cpmrades  in  the  recent 


318  History  of  Tazewell  Couny 

battle ;  and  that  they  would  murder  the  chiefs  while  they  were 
engaged  in  the  peace  conference.  His  Lordship,  however,  invited 
Colonel  Lewis,  and  such  of  his  officers  as  he  chose  to  select,  to  visit 
the  camp  and  take  part  in  the  peace  negotiations. 

The  invitation  was  declined  in  such  terms  as  to  convince  Dun- 
more  that  Colonel  Lewis,  and  his  officers,  and  the  men  in  the  ranks, 
had  not  made  the  long  and  severe  march  from  their  distant  homes 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha,  and  fought  the  bloody  battle  at 
Point  Pleasant  to  accomplish  nothing  more  than  an  uncertain  peace 
with  the  savages,  a  peace  which  Dunmore  had  been  seeking  from  the 
moment  he  left  Pittsburg.  The  mountaineers  from  Fincastle  County 
wanted  to  go  on  to  the  Shawnee  towns  and  do  what  Colonel  Preston 
had  promised  them  should  be  done,  that  is,  plunder  and  burn  the 
Shawnee  towns,  destroy  their  corn  fields,  take  their  "great  stock  of 
horses,"  and  force  the  people  to  abandon  their  country,  or  kill  them. 
And  the  men  from  the  Holston  and  Clinch  valleys  were  eager  to 
march  on  and  avenge  the  cruel  outrages  that  had  been  committed, 
since  they  left  their  homes,  upon  their  neighbors  and  kindred  by 
Shawnee  and  Mingo  scalping  parties. 

The  governor  then  concluded  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Indians. 
Being  disturbed  over  the  attitude  of  Lewis  and  his  men,  his  Lord- 
ship laid  aside  his  dignity,  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  to  Lewis' 
camp.  He  informed  Lewis  that  a  treaty  had  been  agreed  upon,  and 
that  its  terms  were  such  as  would  protect  the  inhabitants  of  the 
regions  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  Then  he  told  Lewis  that  the  pres- 
ence of  himself  and  army  could  be  of  no  further  service,  but  might 
be  a  hinderance  to  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty ;  and  ordered  him  to 
march  home  with  his  forces.  It  is  said  that  Colonel  Lewis  was 
greatly  concerned  for  the  safety  of  Governor  Dunmore  while  he 
was  visiting  his  camp.  The  soldiers  were  so  angry  on  account  of 
being  ordered  to  return  home  just  as  they  had  gotten  where  they 
could  strike  and  punish  their  foes,  that  Lewis  thought  it  best  to 
double  or  treble  the  guards  about  his  tent  while  the  governor  was 
visiting  him.  Dunmore  and  his  party  remained  in  the  camp  that 
night.  The  next  day  he  called  the  captains  together,  told  them 
what  he  had  done,  and  requested  them  to  return  home  with  their 
men;  and  that  day  the  return  march  was  begun. 

The  terms  of  the  treaty,  as  briefly  reported  by  Governor  Dunmore 
to  the  secretary  of  state  for  the  colonies,  were:  "That  the  Indians 
should  deliver  up  all  prisoners  without  reserve ;  that  they  should  not 


and  Southwest  Virginia  319 

hunt  on  our  Side  the  Ohio,  nor  molest  any  Boats  passing  thereupon ; 
That  they  should  promise  to  agree  to  such  regulations  for  their  trade 
with  our  Peoi^le,  as  should  be  hereafter  dictated  by  the  Kings  In- 
structions, and  that  they  Should  deliver  into  our  hands  certain  Hos- 
tages, to  be  KejDt  by  us  until  we  were  convinced  of  their  Sincere  in- 
tention to  adhere  to  all  these  Articles.  The  Indians  finding,  contrary 
to  their  expectation,  no  punishment  likely  to  follow,  agreed  to  every 
thing  with  the  greatest  alacrity,  and  gave  tlie  most  Solemn  assur- 
ances of  their  quiet  and  peaceable  deportment  for  the  future:  and 
in  return  I  have  given  them  every  promise  of  protection  and  good 
treatment  on  our  side." 

Apparently  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  were  reasonable  and 
just  for  both  the  Virginians  and  the  Indians;  but,  for  some  unknown 
reason,  the  Mingos  refused  to  accept  its  terms.  It  may  be  that  they 
were  influenced  to  take  this  course  by  Logan,  their  famous  chief, 
who  was  not  present  at  the  preliminary  conference  that  negotiated 
the  treaty.  He  had  just  gotten  back  to  the  Mingo  towns  from  his 
bloody  scalping  expedition  to  the  Holston  and  Clinch  valleys;  and 
had  brought  with  him  the  little  Roberts  boy,  captured  on  Reedy 
Creek  when  the  Roberts  family  was  massacred,  and  also  the  two 
negroes  he  had  captured  at  Moore's  Fort.  From  contemporary 
reports,  it  is  known  that  he  also  had  a  large  number  of  scalps,  pos- 
sibly as  many  as  thirty,  dangling  at  his  belt  when  he  returned  from 
this  expedition.  It  is  j)robable  the  scaljDS  of  Mrs.  Henry  and  her 
children,  who  were  murdered  in  Thompson  Valley,  were  jDart  of 
Logan's  trophies. 

Provoked  by  the  refusal  of  the  Mingos  to  accept  the  treaty. 
Lord  Dunmore  sent  Major  William  Crawford  with  a  force  of  two 
himdred  and  fifty  men  to  the  nearest  Mingo  town  to  inflict  such 
punishment  upon  the  recalcitrants  as  would  bring  them  into  submis^ 
sion.  A  night  attack  was  made  upon  the  town  and  five  of  the 
Indians  were  killed;  and  fourteen,  chiefly  women  and  children,  were 
taken  prisoners,  the  balance  of  the  inhabitants  escaping  under  cover 
of  the  night.  The  town  was  destroyed  with  the  torch;  and  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  booty  was  brought  away,  which  was  sold  for 
three  hundred  and  five  pounds  and  fifteen  shillings,  and  divided 
among  Crawford's  men.  George  Rodgers  Clark,  who  a  few  years 
later  was  the  leader  of  the  famous  expedition  that  made  conquest  of 
the  Illinois  country,  was  with  Crawford  when  the  disgraceful  attack 
was  made  upon  the  Mingo  town. 


320  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Logan  had  proudly  and  defiantly  refused  to  attend  any  of  the 
peace  conferences,  or  give  his  assent  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty. 
Finally  he  ceased  to  oppose  peace,  but  declined  to  avow  whether  or 
not  he  would  continue  his  acts  of  hostility  against  the  whites.  Dun- 
more  made  several  futile  efforts  to  get  an  interview  with  the  proud 
Indian  chief;  and  at  last  decided  to  reach  him  and  find  out  his 
intentions  through  a  special  messenger.  He  selected  for  the  mission 
his  interpreter,  John  Gibson,  who  was  the  reputed  husband  of 
Logan's  sister  that  had  been  brutally  murdered  by  Greathouse  and 
Baker  at  the  Yellow  Creek  massacre.  Gibson  went  to  the  Indian 
town  and  Logan  agreed  to  talk  privately  with  his  brother-in-law, 
and  took  him  aside  for  an  interview.  The  outraged  chief,  with 
fervid  eloquence,  delivered  a  message  for  the  governor  that  has  since 
been  pronounced  one  of  the  most  classic  and  dramatic  orations  that 
can  be  foxmd  in  the  literature  of  any  country.  Gibson,  who  was  an 
educated  man,  wrote  it  down  while  Logan  was  engaged  in  its 
delivery,  and  it  is  as  follows: 

"I  appeal  to  any  white  man  to  say  if  ever  he  entered  Logan's 
cabin  hungry  and  he  gave  him  not  meat;  if  ever  he  came  cold  and 
naked  and  he  clothed  him  not.^  During  the  course  of  the  last  long 
and  bloody  war,  Logan  remained  idle  in  his  camp,  an  advocate  for 
peace.  Such  was  my  love  for  the  whites  that  my  countrymen  pointed 
as  I  passed  and  said,  'Logan  is  the  friend  of  the  white  man.'  I  had 
even  thought  to  have  lived  with  you  but  for  the  injuries  of  one 
man.  Colonel  Cresap,  the  last  spring,  in  cold  blood  and  unpro- 
voked, murdered  all  the  relations  of  Logan.  There  runs  not  a  drop 
of  my  blood  in  the  veins  of  any  living  creature.  This  called  on  me 
for  revenge.  I  have  sought  it.  I  have  killed  many.  I  have  fully 
glutted  my  vengeance.  For  my  country  I  rejoice  at  the  beams  of 
peace;  but  do  not  harbor  a  thought  that  mine  is  the  joy  of  fear. 
Logan  never  felt  fear.  He  will  not  turn  on  his  heel  to  save  his 
life.     Who  is  there  to  mourn  for  Logan.''     Not  one." 

When  Gibson  returned  to  the  camp  with  the  message.  Lord  Dun- 
more  assembled  his  soldiers  and  scouts,  among  the  latter  were 
Michael  Cresap  and  George  Rodgers  Clark,  and  read  the  speech  to 
them.  Its  beauty  and  pathos  so  impressed  the  rugged  frontiersmen 
that  they  constantly  strived  to  remember  and  repeat  it.  Cresap, 
whom  Logan  still  believed  was  the  murderer  of  his  sister  and 
brother,  though  he  was  guiltless,  was  so  mortified  and  enraged  by 


and  Southwest  Virginia  321 

its   recital  that  he  tlireatened  to  tomahawk  Greathouse,  who  was 
the  real  perpetrator  of  the  hideous  crime. 

In  after  years  the  genuiness  of  the  speech  was  assailed,  some 
writers  asserting  that  it  was  the  production  of  John  Gibson  or  some 
other  white  man.  Thomas  Jefferson  investigated,  with  his  usual 
care,  the  authorship,  and,  in  his  Notes  on  Vil-ginia,  not  only  attrib- 
utes it  to  Logan,  but  commends  the  beautiful  eloquence  of  the 
Indian  chief.  Theodore  Roosevelt,  also  a  careful  investigator,  in  his 
Winning  of  the  West,  declares  it  was  spoken  by  Logan.  The  style 
is  entirely  distinct  from  that  used  by  the  white  men  of  that  period, 
and  neither  Dunmore,  nor  any  white  man  who  was  with  him,  had 
the  peculiar  talent  for  composing  such  a  production.  In  thought 
and  expression  it  bears  the  unmistakable  impress  of  the  child  of 
nature. 

The  Mingo  chief,  whose  life  was  a  tragedy,  was  the  most  pathetic 
figure  among  the  American  Indians  that  were  known  to  the  early 
white  settlers.  His  father  was  a  French  child  that  was  captured 
by  the  Indians  and  adopted  into  the  Oneida  tribe;  and  who,  when 
he  grew  to  manhood,  was  made  a  chief  by  the  Indians  that  lived  in 
the  Susquehanna  Valley.  Logan's  mother  belonged  to  the  Mingo  or 
Cayuga  tribe,  which  was  a  branch  of  the  Iroquois  Nation.  His 
Indian  name  was  Tah-gah-j  ute,  and  he  took  the  name  Logan  from 
his  friend  James  Logan,  who  was  secretary  for  Pennsylvania,  and 
for  a  long  time  acted  as  governor  of  that  province.  Logan  lived  in 
Pennsylvania  until  1770,  when  he  moved  to  Ohio.  At  the  time  of 
Dunmore's  War  he  was  living  at  old  Chillicothe,  now  Westfall,  on 
the  west  bank  of  the  Sciota  River.  He  had  always  been  the  faithful 
friend  of  the  white  people,  but  the  murder  of  his  kindred  made  him 
an  everlasting  foe  of  the  white  race.  His  last  home  was  at  Detroit, 
where  he  was  killed  in  a  drunken  brawl  in  1780.  Quoting  from  a 
historian  of  the  period,  Howe  says:  "For  magnanimity  in  war,  and 
greatness  of  soul  in  peace,  few,  if  any,  in  any  nation  ever  surpassed 
Logan.  His  form  was  striking  and  manly,  his  countenance  calm 
and  noble,  and  he  spoke  the  English  language  with  fluency  and  cor- 
rectness." 


Dumnore's  War  and  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant  were  of  such 
moment  to  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the  Clinch  Valley,  I  have  felt  con- 
strained to  write  freely   about  the  most  important  incidents   con- 


T.H. — 21 


322  History  of  Tazewell  County 

nected  therewith.  The  treaty  of  peace  made  by  Dunmore  with  the 
Ohio  Indians,  after  they  had  been  vanquished  by  the  Virginia  moun- 
taineers, gave  assurance  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Clinch  Valley  that 
the  red  men  would  not,  for  a  time,  molest  them  in  their  earnest 
endeavor  to  clear  away  the  forests  and  establish  comfortable  homes 
for  themselves  and  their  descendants.  The  Shawnees  had  pledged 
themselves  to  make  no  more  invasions  of  the  territory  south  of  the 
Ohio  for  either  war  or  hunting  purposes.  This  pledge  was  not 
violated  until  after  the  Revolution  began,  when  brutal  British  agents 
persuaded  the  Indians  to  resume  hostilities  and  murder  the  border 
settlers. 

Colonel  Lewis,  after  parting  with  Lord  Dunmore,  marched 
rapidly  and  directly  back  to  Point  Pleasant,  arriving  there  with  his 
forces  on  the  night  of  the  20th  of  October.  The  following  day  a 
large  detail  of  men  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  completing  the 
fortifications  that  Lewis  had  commenced  the  day  the  battle  was 
fought.  The  fort  when  completed  was  named  Fort  Blair;  and  it 
was  a  small  rectangle,  about  eighty  yards  long,  with  block-houses 
at  two  of  its  comers.  During  the  absence  of  the  army  across  the 
Ohio,  a  number  of  wounded  had  died  from  their  injuries.  Colonel 
Christian  in  a  letter  to  Colonel  Preston  reported:  "Many  of  our 
wounded  men  died  since  the  accounts  of  the  battle  came  in.  I  think 
there  are  near  70  dead.  Capt.  Buford  and  Lieut.  Goldman  and  7 
or  8  more  died  whilst  we  were  over  the  Ohio  and  more  will  yet  die." 
Colonel  Christian  also  said:  "Colo.  Fleming  is  in  a  fair  way  to 
recover  and  I  think  out  of  danger  if  he  don't  catch  cold." 

Colonel  Fleming,  who  was  an  acconnDlished  surgeon  for  that  day, 
had  been  very  severely  and  supposedly  fatally  wounded.  Two  balls 
struck  his  left  arm  below  the  elbow  and  broke  both  bones,  and  a 
third  entered  his  breast  three  inches  below  the  left  nipple  and 
lodged  in  the  chest.  In  a  letter  to  a  friend  he  said:  "When  I  came 
to  be  drest,  I  found  my  lungs  forced  through  the  wound  in  my 
breast,  as  long  as  one  of  my  fingers.  Watkins  tried  to  reduce  them 
ineffectually.  He  got  some  part  returned  but  not  the  whole.  Being 
in  considerable  pain,  some  time  afterwards,  I  got  the  whole  returned 
by  the  assistance  of  one  of  my  attendants.  Since  which  I  thank  the 
Almighty  I  have  been  in  a  surprising  state  of  ease.  Nor  did  I  ever 
know  such  dangerous  wounds  attended  witli  so  little  inconvenience." 
Colonel  Fleming  did  recover  from  the  wounds,  but  was  disabled  for 
active  service  in  the   Revolutionary  War.      He   afterwards   served 


and  Southwest  Virginia  323 

Virginia  in  many  responsible  civil  positions,  and  his  death,  which 
occurred  Aug.  24th,  1796,  was  occasioned  by  the  wounds  he  received 
at  Point  Pleasant.  The  sword  he  wore  in  tlie  battle  is  now  a  cher- 
ished heirloom  in  the  possession  of  Judge  S.  M.  B.  Coulling,  of 
Tazewell,  Virginia.  Judge  Coulling  is  a  great-great-grandson  of 
the  valiant  soldier  and  distinguished  surgeon. 

Soon  after  the  return  of  the  army  to  Point  Pleasant,  the  troops 
began  to  make  the  homeward  journey  in  small  companies.  They 
were  eager  to  get  back  home,  and  took  the  most  direct  routes  to  their 
respective  places  of  residence.  The  men  from  the  Clinch  and  Hol- 
ston  did  not  return  by  the  route  they  used  when  they  marched  to 
Camp  Union  and  thence  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha.  They 
crossed  to  the  west  side  of  the  Kanawha  at  Point  Pleasant  and  took 
the  most  direct  course  they  could  find  for  their  homes.  The  Taze- 
well men,  so  far  as  is  known,  all  got  back  about  the  first  of  Novem- 
ber, safe  and  sound,  except  John  Hickman,  who  was  the  first  white 
man  killed  at  Point  Pleasant,  and  Moses  Bowen  who  died  on  the 
march  home  from  smallpox.  Captain  William  Russell  was  left  in 
command  of  Fort  Blair,  with  a  garrison  of  fifty  men  who  were  to 
remain  until  a  regular  garrison  could  be  provided  by  the  General 
Assembly.  It  is  hardly  probable  that  any  of  the  Tazewell  men 
remained  with  Russell,  as  they  were  still  anxious  for  the  safety  of 
their  families. 

The  treaty  with  the  Indians  being  satisfactorily  concluded,  and 
Lewis'  men  having  gone  home,  Lord  Dunmore  started  on  his  return 
journey  to  Williamsburg.  He  arrived  there  on  the  4th  of  December, 
was  received  with  much  acclaim  by  the  people,  and  was  presented 
with  congratulatory  addresses  by  the  city,  the  College  of  William 
and  Mary  and  the  Governor's  Council.  About  the  time  of  his  arrival, 
or  shortly  thereafter,  Dunmore  received  five  dispatches,  numbered 
9,  10,  11,  12,  and  13,  from  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  then  secretary  of 
state  for  the  colonies ;  and  dispatch  Number  1 3  gave  the  governor 
very  great  concern.  In  this  dispatch  Dartmouth  rebuked  Dunmore 
severely  for  permitting  grants  to  be  issued  for  lands  west  of  the 
Alleghany  and  allowing  settlements  to  be  made  thereon,  which  was 
done  in  violation  of  the  royal  proclamation  of  1763,  that  forbade 
British  citizens  settling  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 

The  announced  purpose  of  the  proclamation  of  1763,  was  to  pre- 
vent continued  trouble  with  the  Indian  tribes  who  were  the  allies  of 
the  French  in  the  war  that  had  just  been  terminated.    A  few  years 


324  History  of  Tazewell  County 

after  the  royal  proclamation  was  promulgated,  the  companies  that 
had  obtained  from  the  Virginia  Government  grants  for  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  acres  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  who  had 
surveyed  numerous  tracts  of  land  and  sold  them  to  prospective  set- 
tlers, went  industriously  to  work  to  avoid  the  terms  of  the  proclama- 
tion, by  securing  an  extinguishment  of  the  claims  of  the  various 
tribes  to  the  lands  in  the  disputed  territory.  This  induced  many 
persons  to  cross  to  the  territory  west  of  New  River  and  settle  on 
lands  purchased  from  Colonel  Patton's  representatives,  or  from  the 
Loyal  Company;  and  others  settled  on  unappropriated  bovmdaries, 
expecting  to  perfect  their  titles  under  what  was  called  the  settlers 
right  or  "corn  laws."  About  all  the  pioneer  settlers  in  the  Clinch 
Valley  had  come  here  and  located  on  waste  or  unappropriated  land. 

Over  in  England  the  mythical  belief  that  the  shores  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean  were  not  far  beyond  the  Alleghany  ranges  had  been  dis- 
sipated ;  and  through  the  explorations  of  Christopher  Gist  and  others 
it  was  known  that  the  territory  embraced  in  the  charters  of  Virginia, 
lying  beyond  the  mountains,  was  of  vast  extent  and  wonderfully 
valuable  for  agricultural  purposes.  This  information  attracted  the 
attention  and  aroused  the  cupidity  of  certain  Englishmen.  They 
devised  a  plan  for  getting  possession  of  the  extensive  region  belong- 
ing to  Virginia  west  of  the  mountains,  and  enriching  themselves 
hj  selling  it  in  parcels  to  settlers. 

In  June,  1769,  about  the  time  the  settlers  began  to  come  to  the 
Clinch  Valley  and  to  other  localities  west  of  New  River,  a  company 
of  Englishmen  and  Americans  presented  a  petition  to  the  King  of 
England,  asking  that  they  be  permitted  to  purchase  and  colonize  the 
large  boundar}'^  in  America  that  had  been  ceded  by  the  Iroquois 
Nation  to  Great  Britain  by  the  Fort  Stanwix  treaty,  negotiated  in 
1768.  The  company  was  composed  of  men  of  influence,  headed  by 
Thomas  Walpole;  but  the  scheme  was  so  vigorously  opposed  that 
the  prayer  of  the  petition  was  not  acted  upon  until  October,  28th, 

1773,  when  the  Privy  Council  ordered  that  the  grant  be  issued  to  the 
petitioners.  A  new  province  was  to  be  established  to  be  called 
Vandalia,  and  the  seat  of  government  was  to  be  located  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Great  Kanawha,  on  and  about  the  ground  where  the  battle  of 
Point  Pleasant  was  fought. 

But  for  the  disturbances  that  arose  in  the  American  colonies  in 

1774,  and  that  culminated  in  the  Revoluntionary  War,  the  specula- 
tive scheme  of  Walpole  and  his  associates  would  have  taken  legal 


and  Southwest  Virginia  325 

shape.  This  would  have  invested  Walpole's  company  with  title  to 
all  the  unoccupied  land  belonging  to  Virginia  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanieS;  including  the  Clinch  Valley.  And  it  is  more  than  probable 
that  all  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the  Upper  Clinch  Valley  would  have 
been  turned  out  of  their  homes,  or  forced  to  pay  Walpole's  company 
for  them,  as  none  of  the  first  settlers  had  secured  regular  titles  for 
their  lands,  and  did  not  perfect  them  until  after  the  Revolution.  It 
would  also  have  taken  authority  from  the  Virginia  Council  to  issue 
grants  for  lands  west  of  the  mountains;  and  put  an  end  to  the 
policy  of  the  General  Assembly  for  pushing  the  frontiers  westward 
by  the  creation  of  new  counties,  as  was  done  by  the  erection  of 
Botetourt  and  Fincastle  counties. 

That  Governor  Dunmore  was  secretly  favoring  the  plans  of  Wal- 
pole  is  shown  from  his  letter  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  replying  to 
the  aforementioned  Dispatch  "No.  13."  It  is  possible  that  this  was 
the  true  reason  for  the  indifferent  treatment  he  extended  the  Virginia 
mountaineers  whom  he  had  requested  to  join  him  in  the  Ohio  cam- 
paign. On  the  12th  of  July,  1774,  Dunmore  wrote  a  letter  to 
Colonel  Andrew  Lewis,  directing  him  to  go  to  Ohio  with  a  force  of 
men,  to  destroy  the  Indian  towns  and  to  show  the  savages  no  mercy. 
The  governor  said:  "All  I  can  now  say  is  to  repeat  what  I  have 
before  said  which  is  to  advise  you  by  no  means  to  wait  any  longer 
for  them  to  Attack  you,  but  to  raise  all  the  Men  you  think  willing 
&  Able  &  go  down  immediately  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanhaway  & 
there  build  a  Fort,  and  if  you  think  you  have  forse  enough  (that 
are  willing  to  follow  you)  to  proceed  directly  to  their  Towns  &  if 
possible  destroy  their  Towns  &  Magazines  and  distress  them  in 
every  way  that  is  possible." 

In  the  face  of  these  specific  orders  to  his  subordinates,  the  gover- 
nor, immediately  after  his  arrival  at  Pittsburg,  began  to  take  steps 
to  negotiate  a  peace  with  all  the  Ohio  tribes,  including  the  Shawnees, 
without  giving  Lewis  and  his  brave  men  opportunity  to  accomplish 
the  ends  for  which  they  had  made  their  laborious  and  perilous  march 
to  the  Ohio.  Dunmore's  conduct  in  connection  with  the  campaign 
was  so  insincere  and  vacillating  th-dl  Lewis  and  his  men  strongly 
suspected  him  of  treachery.  Howe,  in  his  History  of  Virginia,  says : 
"Lord  Dunmore  marched  the  army  in  two  divisions:  the  one  imder 
Col.  Andrew  Lewis  he  sent  to  the  junction  of  the  Great  Kanawha 
with  the  Ohio,  while  he  himself  marched  to  a  higher  point  on  the 
latter  river,  with  pretended  purpose  of  destroying  the  Indian  towns 


326  History  of  Tazewell  County 

and  joining  Lewis  at  Point  Pleasant;  but  it  is  believed  with  the 
real  object  of  sending  the  whole  Indian  force  to  annihilate  Lewis' 
detachment,  and  thereby  weaken  the  power  and  break  down  the 
spirit  of  Virginia."  Howe  is  strongly  sustained  in  his  charge  of 
treachery  against  Dunmore  by  Colonel  John  Stuart,  who  commanded 
a  company  of  the  Augusta  men  at  Point  Pleasant,  and  who  wrote  a 
narrative  of  the  battle.  Alexander  Withers,  in  his  Chronicles  of 
Border  Warafare,  corroborates  Colonel  Stuart's  accusations.  Colonel 
Stuart  was  a  fellow-countryman  of  Dunmore,  being  a  native  of 
Scotland,  and  this  adds  greater  force  to  his  charges  of  infidelity 
against  the  earl. 

In  his  letter  to  the  secretary  of  state  for  the  colonies,  Dunmore 
made  a  very  earnest  eiTort  to  convince  Dartmouth  that  he  was  not 
only  opposed  to  extending  the  settlements  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
colonies  as  they  stood  in  1770,  but  that  he  had  done  everything  pos- 
sible while  governor  of  New  York  to  prevent  any  such  extension. 
He  also  protested  that  he  made  ineffectual  but  earnest  efforts  to 
prevent  further  settlements  in  the  terriory  west  of  New  River  that 
the  Cherokees  ceded  to  Virginia  by  the  treaty  concluded  at  Lochaber 
on  the  18th  of  October,  1770.  He  was  certainly  not  in  sympathy 
with  the  men  who  composed  Lewis'  army,  many  of  whom  had  already 
settled  in  the  forbidden  territory;  and  some  of  whom,  Floyd,  Har- 
rod,  and  others,  had  been  preparing  to  settle  in  Kentucky.  Dunmore 
showed  his  contempt  for  the  pioneers  by  saying:  "They  acquire  no 
attachment  to  Place:  But  wandering  about  Seems  engrafted  in  their 
nature ;  and  it  is  a  weakness  incident  to  it,  that  they  Should  forever 
immagine  the  Lands  further  off,  are  Still  better  than  those  upon 
which  they  are  already  Settled." 

The  Tazewell  pioneers  were  not  composed  of  restless  rovers, 
such  as  Lord  Dunmore  describes.  They,  or  their  ancestors,  had  left 
the  old  countries  to  secure  that  freedom  of  thought  and  action  which 
later  became  the  inalienable  right  of  every  American  citizen.  The 
lands  they  found  here  and  settled  on  were  so  rich  and  attractive  that 
they  knew  it  was  useless  to  seek  anything  better  "further  off."  So, 
they  remained,  and  imparted  to  their  descendants  a  love  for  Taze- 
well soil  that  has  almost  become  an  obsession.  In  his  report  to  Lord 
Dartmouth,  in  explanation  of  the  existing  conditions  on  the  Virginia 
frontiers.  Lord  Dunmore  said: 

"In  this  Colony  Proclamations  have  been  published  from  time  to 
time  to  restrain  them  (the  frontier  settlers)  :     But  impressed  from 


and  Southwest  Virginia  327 

their  earliest  infancy  with  Sentiments  and  habits,  very  different 
from  those  acquired  by  persons  of  a  Similar  condition  in  England, 
they  do  not  conceive  that  Government  has  any  right  to  forbid  their 
taking  possession  of  a  Vast  tract  of  Country,  either  inhabitated,  or 
which  Serves  only  as  a  Shelter  to  a  few  Scattered  Tribes  of  Indians. 
Nor  can  they  be  easily  brought  to  entertain  any  belief  of  the  per- 
manent obligation  of  Treaties  made  with  tliose  people,  whom  they 
consider,  as  but  little  removed  from  the  brute  Creation." 

These  utterances  of  Governor  Dunmore  very  accurately  set  forth 
the  motives  and  characteristics  of  the  Tazewell  pioneers ;  but  they 
were  not  a  proper  subject  for  unfavorable  comment  by  an  official 
representative  of  the  government  of  Great  Britain.  The  British 
Government,  from  the  time  the  first  settlement  was  made  at  James- 
town, had  established  and  followed  a  policy  of  aggression  and  exter- 
mination toward  the  American  aborigines.  England's  title  to  the 
immense  region  now  embraced  in  the  United  States  was  based  upon 
the  chimerical  right  of  discovery  and  the  brutal  principle  that  might 
makes  right.  If  treaties  were  made  with  the  Indians  by  the  British 
Government,  in  each  and  every  instance  the  natives  were  deceived 
and  defrauded.  Such  treaties  were  not  made  from  a  sense  of  moral 
or  legal  obligation  to  the  aboriginal  inhabitants,  but  from  a  selfish 
desire  to  make  the  colonies  stronger  and  prepare  them  for  further 
encroachments  upon  the  natural  rights  of  the  red  men.  If  our  ances- 
tors believed  that  the  English  King  had  no  right  to  forbid  them 
taking  possession  of  the  Clinch  Valley  and  adjacent  territory  for 
their  homes,  that  the  treaties  made  with  the  Indians  were  devoid  of 
"permament  obligation,"  and  that  the  natives  were  no  better  than 
"the  brute  creation,"  these  convictions  had  been  imbibed  from  the 
teachings  and  practices  of  the  British  Government  toward  both  the 
Indians  of  America  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  East  Indies.  We 
should  feel  proud  of  the  fact  that  our  pioneer  ancestors  rested  their 
right  to  make  their  homes  in  the  wilderness  regions  of  the  Clinch 
upon  the  theory  that  the  lands  were  uninhabited,  that  they  were  of 
"no  man's  land;"  and  that  they  did  not  look  for  title  to  a  government 
that  claimed  the  country  by  right  of  conquest  or  discovery. 

Dunmore  wrote  to  Lord  Dartmouth  that  there  were  "three  con- 
siderations" he  wished  to  offer  for  his  Majesty's  approval:  "The 
first  is,  to  Suffer  these  Emigrants  to  hold  their  Lands  of,  and  incor- 
porate with  the  Indians;  the  dreadfull  Consequences  of  which  may 


328  History  of  Tazewell  County 

be  easily  foreseen,  and  which  I  leave  to  your  Lordships  Judgment. 
The  Second,  is  to  permit  them  to  form  a  Set  of  Democratical  Gov- 
ernments of  their  own,  upon  the  backs  of  the  old  Colonies ;  a  Scheme 
which,  for  obvious  reasons,  I  apprcliend  cannot  be  allowed  to  be 
carried  into  execution.  The  last  is,  that  which  I  proposed  to  your 
Lordship,  to  receive  persons  in  their  Circumstances,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Some  of  His  Majesty's  Governments  already  established, 
and,  in  giving  this  advice,  I  had  no  thought  of  bringing  a  Dishonour 
upon  the  Crown." 

These  suggestions  offered  by  the  governor  of  the  Virginia  prov- 
ince, through  the  secretary  of  state  for  the  colonies,  to  George  III., 
King  of  England,  make  it  obvious  that  Dunmore's  War  was  waged 
more  particularly  for  the  benefit  of  the  Royal  Government  than  it 
was  for  the  jDrotection  of  the  frontier  settlers.  Dunmore  was  aware 
that  the  principles  of  democracy  were  taking  deep  root  in  the  minds 
and  liearts  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  moimtain  regions  of  Virginia; 
and  tliat  open  resistance  to  their  eager  wishes  to  extend  their  set- 
tlements into  Kentucky  and  along  the  southern  banks  of  the  Ohio 
would  intensify  rather  than  curb  the  growing  democratic  spirit  of 
this  liberty-loving  people.  And  he  realized  that  the  methods  he  had 
used  to  thwart  the  main  purpose  of  the  Lewis  expedition  to  the 
Ohio  had  kindled  a  flame  of  resentment  among  the  inhabitants  of  the 
three  great  trans-montane  counties,  Augusta,  Botetourt,  and  Fin- 
castle.  Hence  his  wise  suggestion  to  the  British  Government  for  the 
adoption  of  a  conservative  and  compromising  policy  in  its  treatment 
of  the  frontiersmen,  who  had  shown  at  Point  Pleasant  their  ability 
to  defeat  the  confederated  tribes  of  the  Northwestern  Indians  with- 
out any  assistance  from  the  Royal  Government.  The  battle  of  Point 
Pleasant,  which  was  won  by  the  Virginia  backwoodsmen,  a  number 
of  Tazewell  pioneers  being  in  the  engagement,  was  virtually  the 
opening  battle  of  the  American  Revolution. 

One  of  the  most  important  outcomes  of  the  Point  Pleasant  bat- 
tle, and  one  that  proved  of  vital  benefit  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Clinch  Valley,  was  the  opening  up  of  Kentucky  for  permanent  set- 
tlement. This  erected  a  strong  barrier  in  that  direction  between  the 
hostile  Indians  and  the  Clinch  settlements ;  and  during  the  progress 
of  the  Revolutionary  War  greatly  reduced  the  number  of  attacks 
that  would  otherwise  have  been  made  upon  the  pioneers  of  this 
region. 

The  battle   of   Point   Pleasant   was   also   an   event   of  immense 


and  Southwest  Virginia  329 

interest  to  the  American  colonies.  It  not  only  furnished  opportunity 
for  the  permanent  settlement  of  Kentucky  and  the  Kanawha  Valley, 
but  gave  George  Rodgers  Clark  and  his  intrepid  followers  inspira- 
tion to  originate  and  consummate  the  expedition  that  won  for  Vir- 
ginia the  extensive  and  valuable  Northwestern  territory;  and 
extended  the  northern  boundary  line  of  the  American  Nation  from 
Nova  Scotia  along  the  chain  of  inland  seas,  and  on  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  Eventually  it  gave  the  United  States  possession  of  the 
lower  Mississippi  Valley,  through  Thomas  Jefferson's  purchase  of 
Louisiana  in  1803;  brought  Texas,  the  splendid  Lone  Star  State, 
into  the  Union;  and  secured,  by  conquest,  the  large  territory  ceded 
by  Mexico  in  1848.  The  descendants  of  the  Tazewell  pioneers  can 
proudly  claim  that  their  ancestors  were  among  the  participants  in 
the  eventful  battle.  There  were  other  results  that  flowed  from  the 
battle  that  are  not  so  pleasant  to  contemplate.  It  sowed  the  seeds 
of  life  and  greed  in  the  broad  road  the  white  men  afterwards 
traveled,  but  scattered  the  seeds  of  death  and  despair  along  the  nar- 
row path  the  poor  American  Indians  were  forced  to  travel  for  more 
than  a  century. 


Soon  after  the  conclusion  of  Dunmore's  War,  Daniel  Boone,  who 
had  been  sojourning  in  the  Clinch  Valley  for  more  than  a  year, 
determined  to  carry  into  effect  his  long  coveted  plans  for  planting 
a  colony  in  Kentucky.  The  Fort  Stanwix  treaty  had  extinguished 
the  ancient  claim  of  the  Iroquois  to  the  territory  in  question ;  and  the 
treaty  that  Dunmore  made  with  the  Ohio  Indians  had  procured  from 
them  an  abandonment  of  the  right  they  asserted  to  the  hunting 
grounds  south  of  the  Ohio.  The  Cherokees,  however,  claimed,  and 
justly  so,  absolute  title  to  Kentucky  by  the  terms  of  the  treaty  made 
at  Lochaber,  South  Carolina ;  and  under  a  treaty  made  with  the  prov- 
ince of  Virginia  in  1772,  which  latter  treaty  provided  that  the 
boundary  line  between  Virginia  and  the  Cherokee  Nation  should 
"run  west  from  the  White  Top  Mountain  in  latitude  thirty-six 
degrees  thirty  minutes." 

Boone  saw  the  necessity  for  getting  rid  of  the  claim  of  the 
Cherokees  before  making  a  further  attempt  to  lead  a  colony  into 
Kentucky.  He  remembered  how  his  first  attempt  to  migrate  to  that 
country,  in  the  autumn  of  1773,  had  been  defeated  by  a  roving  band 
of  Cherokees,  who  set  upon  and  killed  his  son  James,  and  Henry 


330  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Russell,  son  of  Captain  William  Russell,  together  with  four  white 
men  and  two  negroes  who  were  attending  young  Russell.  This 
caused  him  to  exercise  caution  to  escape  a  similar  occurrence.  John 
Floyd  had  made,  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1774,  numerous  sur- 
veys of  large  and  valuable  tracts  of  land  in  Kentucky  for  Patrick 
Henry,  William  Preston,  William  Russell,  William  Byrd,  William 
Fleming,  William  Christian,  Arthur  Campbell,  and  other  Virginians ; 
and  all  these,  no  doubt,  joined  Boone  in  the  scheme  to  acquire  the 
title  of  the  Cherokees.  Boone  decided  to  enter  into  negotiations 
with  the  Indians.  Early  in  the  year  1775  he  induced  Colonel  Rich- 
ard Henderson,  Thomas  Hart,  John  Williams,  James  Hogg,  Nathan- 
iel Hart,  Leonard  H.  Bullock,  John  Lutrell,  and  William  John- 
ston, all  living  in  North  Carolina,  to  join  him  in  an  effort  to  pur- 
chase the  Cherokee  claim.  A  company  was  formed  to  that  end,  and 
Boone,  Henderson  and  Nathaniel  Hart  went  to  the  Cherokee  towns 
to  commence  negotiations.  They  made  a  proposition  to  the  Indians, 
and  suggested  that  a  general  council  of  the  Nation  be  held  to  con- 
sider the  sale  of  the  desired  territory  to  Boone  and  his  associates. 
A  council  was  held  at  Sycamore  Shoals  on  the  Watauga  River,  at 
which  about  twelve  hundred  Cherokees  were  present,  more  than  half 
of  them  warriors.  On  the  17th  of  March,  1775,  a  treaty  was  con- 
cluded and  signed  by  the  agents  of  the  companj'^  and  certain  chiefs 
of  the  Cherokee  Nation.  In  consideration  of  a  large  quantity  of 
merchandise,  said  to  be  of  the  value  of  ten  thousand  pounds  sterling, 
the  Indians  conveyed  to  the  North  Carolinians  and  their  associates 
all  the  lands  south  of  the  Ohio  and  lying  between  the  Kentucky  and 
Cumberland  Rivers.  Dragging  Canoe,  the  great  chief,  opposed  the 
treaty  and  made  a  strong  speech  against  it.  He  very  earnestly  and 
pathetically  called  the  attention  of  his  tribesmen  to  the  happy  state 
the  Nation  had  occupied  before  it  was  encroached  upon  by  the 
greedy  white  men,  and  how  other  tribes  of  their  race  had  been 
driven  from  their  homes  by  the  whites,  who  seemed  determined  to 
drive  the  natives  out  or  exterminate  them.  He  declared  that: 
"^^^lole  nations  had  melted  away  in  their  presence  like  balls  of 
snow  before  the  sun,  and  had  scarcely  left  their  names  behind, 
except  as  imperfectly  recorded  by  their  enemies  and  destroyers." 
Dragging  Canoe  saw  in  this  proposition  of  Boone  and  his  com- 
panions to  get  the  remainder  of  their  finest  hunting  grounds  the 
beginning  of  a  movement  of  the  white  men  to  drive  his  people  from 
their  beautiful  homeland  in  the  Southern  AUeghanies,  and  force 


and  Southwest  Virginia  331 

them  into  the  wilderness  beyond  the  Mississippi.  The  old  chief 
urged  his  countrymen  to  fight  to  the  death  rather  than  submit  to  the 
loss  of  more  of  their  territory.  His  pleas  were  unavailing,  and  the 
territory  sought  by  Daniel  Boone  and  others  was  sold  to  them. 

The  Cherokees  had  parted  with  their  acknowledged  title  to  their 
famous  hunting  grounds,  from  which  they  had  in  succession  driven 
all  intruders,  "time  out  of  mind."  But  instead  of  the  lands  becom- 
ing the  property  of  Henderson's  company,  it  merely  removed  the 
Cherokee  cloud  from  the  title  which  Virginia  had  acquired  and  was 
asserting  under  the  charters  granted  by  James  I.,  King  of  Eng- 
land; and  Kentucky  at  that  time  was  a  part  of  Fincastle  County, 
Virginia.  The  Indian  chiefs  conceded  that  their  title  was  of  doubt- 
ful value,  because  they  had  never  used  the  territory  for  residence, 
but  only  for  hunting  purposes.  Oconostoto  and  Dragging  Canoe 
told  Henderson  that  the  Northwestern  Indians  would  oppose  his 
occupancy  of  the  territory  and  would  show  the  white  men  no  mercy. 
And  another  old  chief  told  Daniel  Boone:  "Brother  we  have  given 
you  a  fine  land,  but  I  believe  you  will  have  much  trouble  in  set- 
tling it." 

Regardless  of  these  warnings,  as  soon  as  he  was  satisfied  that 
the  Cherokees  would  make  the  sale,  Henderson  started  Boone  with  a 
company  of  thirty  men  to  blaze  and  clear  a  trail  from  the  Holston 
to  the  Kentucky  River.  Equipping  his  men  with  rifles  and  axes, 
Boone  immediately  started  out  to  prepare  the  trail,  which  passed 
through  Cumberland  Gap,  crossed  the  Cumberland,  Laurel  and  Rock 
Castle  rivers,  and  on  to  the  Kentucky  River.  Boone's  party  was 
occupied  two  weeks  in  accomplishing  its  task,  and  on  several 
occasions  they  were  attacked  by  small  parties  of  Indians  and  some 
of  his  men  killed. 

When  the  treaty  with  the  Indians  was  completed,  Henderson 
started  out  to  follow  the  trail  that  Boone  and  his  men  had  made. 
He  had  a  large  party  of  men;  and  wagons  to  transport  the  goods, 
tools  implements  and  so  forth,  that  would  be  needed  in  preparing  a 
permanent  settlement.  But  he  had  to  abandon  the  wagons  in 
Powell's  Vallej'^,  because  the  trail  beyond  would  not  permit  the  use 
of  vehicles;  and  pack-horses  were  used  for  the  balance  of  the  jour- 
ney. On  the  7th  of  April  messengers  from  Boone  met  Henderson's 
party  with  the  information  that  the  Indians  were  proving  danger- 
ous, and  urging  Henderson  to  hasten  on  to  where  Boone  and  his  men 
had   gone   into    camp.      Henderson   as   quickly    as    possible   joined 


332  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Boone,  reaching  his  uncompleted  wooden  fort  on  the  20th  of  April, 
where  he  was  received  with  a  salute  from  20  or  30  rifles;  and  they 
proceeded  to  lay  the  foundation  of  tlie  settlement  at  Boonesborough. 
Roosevelt  says,  in  Winning  of  the  West:  "Beyond  doubt  the  rest- 
less and  vigorous  frontiersmen  would  ultimately  have  won  their 
way  into  the  coveted  western  lands;  yet  had  it  not  been  for  the 
battle  of  the  Great  Kanawha,  Boone  and  Henderson  could  not,  in 
1775,  have  planted  their  colony  in  Kentucky;  and  had  it  not  been 
for  Boone  and  Henderson,  it  is  most  unlikely  that  the  land  would 
have  been  settled  at  all  until  after  the  Revolutionary  War." 

The  jDurchase  from  the  Indians  by  Henderson  and  his  associates 
was  made  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  new  province,  or  colony, 
to  be  separated  from  the  colonies  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina, 
and  they  named  it  Transylvania.  Nearly  all  of  the  present 
Kentucky  and  a  considerable  part  of  Tennessee,  then  North  Caro- 
lina, was  embraced  in  the  purchase.  About  the  same  time  that 
Henderson  and  Boone  took  their  colony  to  their  new  possession. 
Colonel  James  Harrod  returned  to  Kentucky  with  a  large  party  of 
emigrants,  and  resumed  work  on  the  fort  and  village  he  had  com- 
menced to  build  in  1774  on  the  present  site  of  Harrodsburg.  And 
Benjamin  Logan,  who  was  a  lieutenant  in  one  of  the  companies  from 
the  Holston  in  the  Point  Pleasant  campaign,  went  out  with  a  party 
and  built  Logan's  Station,  ten  miles  from  Boonesborough.  It  is 
highly  probable  that  Colonel  William  Preston,  Major  Arthur  Camp- 
bell, and  other  prominent  Virginians  were  identified  in  some  way 
with  Henderson's  Transjdvania  Company,  as  John  Floyd  returned 
to  Kentucky  in  1775  to  act  as  surveyor  for  that  company.  The 
scheme  may  have  originated,  in  a  measure,  from  I'csentment  toward 
Governor  Dunmore  on  account  of  his  unfair  treatment  of  the  Fin- 
castle  men  who  took  part  in  the  Ohio  campaign ;  and  with  the  inten- 
tion of  forestalling  Thomas  Walpole  and  his  speculative  company 
of  Englislimen,  who  were  perfecting  their  plans  to  found  the  pro- 
vince of  Vandalia. 

After  his  arrival  on  the  scene,  Henderson  lost  no  time  in  putting 
his  plans  into  effective  operation.  He  opened  a  land  oflSce  at 
Boonesborough,  and  had  boundaries  that  aggregated  many  thousands 
of  acres  surveyed  by  Daniel  Boone  and  others;  giving  certificates 
of  entry  therefor  to  any  colonists  who  wished  to  become  purchasers. 
A  number  of  the  colonists  were  apprehensive  of  the  legality  of 
Henderson's   right  to  sell  and  convey  these  lands.     They  decided 


and  Southwest  Virginia  333 

to  rest  their  right  of  entry  upon  the  Virginia  land  laws.  The  Taze- 
well pioneers  had  made  their  settlements  under  these  laws,  as  is 
shown  by  the  patents  issued  to  them  after  the  Revolution,  These 
laws  gave  to  every  man  who  settled  in  the  wilderness  regions  the 
right  to  enter  four  hundred  acres  of  unappropriated  land,  if  he 
built  a  cabin  thereon  and  cleared  and  cultivated  in  com  a  small 
boundary.  The  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  afterwards  confirmed 
the  claims  of  the  Kentucky  colonists  who  relied  upon  the  Virginia 
laws  for  their  titles. 

Henderson  and  his  Transylvanians  asked  the  consent  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress,  then  in  session,  to  send  representatives  to  that 
body,  independent  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  Lord  Dunmore 
as  governor  of  Virginia,  made  protest  against  all  the  acts  of  the 
proprietors  of  Translyvania  as  illegitimate,  and  claimed  that  the 
greater  portion  of  the  mushroom  province  was  Virginia  territory  and 
was  a  part  of  Fincastle  County.  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Patrick 
Henry,  who  were  delegates  from  Virginia  to  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, made  vigorous  protest  against  recognition  of  Transylvania, 
and  the  Congress  refused  to  admit  its  representatives  to  seats  in  that 
assembly.  The  North  Carolina  Government  adopted  the  same  policy 
as  that  of  Virginia.  While  the  Revolutionary  War  was  in  progress, 
in  1778,  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  declared  Henderson's 
purchase  from  the  Indians  null  and  void,  using  as  authority  for  the 
act  a  general  land  law  passed  in  1705  by  the  General  Assembly. 
One  of  the  provisions  of  the  act  forbade  the  Indians  from  alienating 
their  lands,  "by  whatsoever  rights  claimed  or  pretended  to,  to  any 
but  some  of  their  own  nation ;"  and  declared  all  conveyances  contrary 
to  the  act  void;  and  imposed  heavy  penalties  on  those  who  should 
purchase  or  procure  conveyances  from  them.  However,  instead  of 
inflicting  penalties  upon  Henderson  and  his  associates,  the  General 
Assembly  thought  it  equitable,  and  sound  public  policy,  to  reimburse 
them  for  procuring  from  the  Cherokees  a  relinquishment  of  their 
actual  or  pretended  claims  to  the  Virginia  territory  situated  in  Ken- 
tucky. In  accordance  with  that  view,  the  General  Assembly  in 
October,  1778,  enacted  the  following  relief  measure: 

"Whereas  it  has  appeared  to  this  Assembly,  that  Richard  Hen- 
derson and  Company,  have  been  at  very  great  expense,  in  making 
a  purchase  of  the  Cherokee  Indians,  and  although  the  same  has  been 
declared  void,  yet  as  this  Commonwealth  is  likely  to  receive  great 
advantage  therefrom,  by  increasing  its  inhabitants,  and  establishing 


334  History  of  Tazewell  County 

a  barrier  against  the  Indians,  it  is  therefore  just  and  reasonable  the 
said  Richard  Henderson  and  Company  be  made  a  compensation  for 
their  trouble  and  expense. 

"1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly,  That  all  that  tract 
of  land  situate,  lying,  and  being  on  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  and  Green 
rivers,  bounded  as  follows,  to  wit:  beginning  at  the  mouth  of  Green 
river,  thence  running  up  the  same  twelve  and  a  half  miles,  when 
reduced  to  a  straight  line,  thence  rimning  at  right  angles  with  the 
said  reduced  lines,  twelve  and  a  half  miles  on  each  side  of  the  said 
river,  thence  running  lines  from  the  termination  of  the  line  extended 
on  each  side  of  the  said  Green  river,  at  right  angles  with  the  same, 
till  the  said  lines  intersect  the  Ohio,  which  said  river  Ohio  shall  be 
the  western  boundary  of  the  said  tract,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby 
granted  the  said  Richard  Henderson  and  Company,  and  their  heirs 
and  tenants  in  common,  subject  to  the  payment  of  the  same  taxes, 
as  other  lands  within  this  Commonwealth  are;  *  *  *  but  this 
grant  shall,  and  it  is  hereby  declared  to  be  in  full  compensation  to 
the  said  Richard  Henderson  and  Company,  and  their  heirs,  for  their 
charge  and  trouble,  and  for  all  advantage  accruing  therefrom  to  this 
Commonwealth,  and  they  are  hereby  excluded  from  any  further 
claims  to  lands,  on  account  of  any  settlement  or  improvements  here- 
tofore made  by  them,  or  any  of  them,  on  the  lands  so  as  aforesaid 
purchased  from  the  Cherokee  Indians." 

As  this  act  declared,  the  Commonwealth  was  greatly  benefitted 
through  the  settlements  made  by  Boone,  Henderson  and  others  in 
Kentucky,  in  that  they  erected  on  the  western  frontier  a  strong  bar- 
rier against  the  Western  Indians.  It  was  of  great  value  to  the 
Clinch  settlements,  because  it  largely  diverted  the  attention  of  the 
Western  tribes  from  this  region,  and  relieved  our  pioneer  ancestors 
from  hostile  invasions  by  large  bands  of  the  red  men.  But  it  did 
not  relieve  the  inhabitants  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Clinch  and 
Bluestone  rivers  fi'om  frequent  bloody  attacks  by  small  scalping 
parties.  The  Sandy  River  Valley  still  remained  an  open  way  by 
which  the  Indians  could  approach  undetected  the  Clinch  and  Blue- 
stone  settlements. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  335 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR. 

During  the  fall,  winter  and  spring  following  the  termination 
of  Dunmore's  War  the  Tazewell  pioneers  pursued  their  home- 
making  labors  with  increased  and  unabated  ardor.  They  had  been 
here  long  enough  to  test  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  had  found  they 
were  not  mistaken  in  their  first  estimate  of  its  excellent  quality.  The 
delightful  spring,  summer,  and  autumn  seasons  they  knew  would 
more  than  compensate  for  the  rigorous  winter  weather  that  would 
have  to  be  endured  for  three  months  each  succeeding  year.  Health, 
abundance  of  the  best  food,  and  other  creature  comforts,  were 
assured  to  each  and  every  one  of  the  inhabitants  that  exercised  a 
reasonable  amount  of  intelligence  and  diligence  to  obtain  these  bless- 
ings. And  the  promise  of  relief  from  hostile  invasions  by  the 
Indians  gave  fresh  impulse  to  the  purposes  and  hopes  of  the  settlers 
of  turning  the  wilderness  country  into  a  great  agricultural  and 
grazing  region.  More  horses  and  cattle  were  brought  out  from  the 
eastern  settlements  to  be  grazed  on  the  ranges  in  the  summer  and 
to  consume  the  excess  of  corn  and  other  grains  in  the  winter.  Oats, 
rye  and  w^heat  had  now  been  introduced;  and  the  raising  of  hogs  in 
large  numbers  became  popular,  as  there  was  an  ample  supply  of 
mast  every  fall  in  the  forests  to  fatten  thousands  of  porkers.  Num- 
bers of  new  settlers  moved  into  each  community;  new  cabins  were 
built ;  the  sound  of  the  woodman's  axe  could  be  heard  ringing  during 
the  day  near  every  cabin  home;  and  the  crash  of  the  falling  forest 
giants  as  they  yielded  to  the  sturdy  blows  of  the  axemen  rever- 
berated from  every  adjacent  mountain  hollow.  The  horrible  cloud 
that  had  been  hovering  over  and  about  the  pioneer  homes — the 
frightful  massacres  by  the  Indians — had  been  swept  away;  but  a 
terrible  storm  was  gradually  approaching  from  the  east,  that,  before 
many  seasons  were  passed,  would  find  its  way  into  the  peaceful  val- 
leys where  our  ancestors  were  erecting  their  homes. 

In  the  spring  of  1775  the  quarrels  between  England  and  her 
American  colonies  reached  a  crisis.  The  British  Government  was 
forcing  the  issue  of  whether  the  colonies  should  become  sovereign 
independent  governments,  or  be  compelled  to  remain  and  be  ruled 


336  History  of  Tazewell  County 

as  dependencies  of  Great  Britain.  This  question  had  been  agitating 
the  mother  country  and  the  colonies  ever  since,  1765,  and  had 
reached  an  acute  stage  which  precluded  any  hope  of  a  peaceful 
settlement.  In  March,  1774,  Pax'liament  passed  what  was  called  the 
Boston  Port  Bill.  It  was  a  retaliative  measure  to  punish  the  people 
of  Boston  for  their  physical  resistance  of  the  tax  on  tea  imported 
into  the  colonies.  The  Port  Bill  provided  that  no  merchandise  of 
any  kind  should  be  landed  at  or  shipped  from  the  wharves  of  Bos- 
ton— with  the  threat  that  the  other  ports  of  Massachusetts,  and  the 
ports  of  all  the  colonies,  would  be  inflicted  with  a  similar  embargo, 
if  they  followed  Boston's  example  of  resistance  to  the  tea  tax.  When 
the  news  of  the  enactment  by  Parliament  of  the  Port  Bill  reached 
Williamsburg,  the  Virginia  Assembly,  then  being  in  session,  im- 
mediately made  protest  against  the  outrageous  measure;  and  had 
the  protest  entered  on  the  journal  of  the  House.  Governor  Dun- 
more,  who  was  a  repressive  royalist,  was  so  provoked  that  he  dis- 
solved the  assembly  and  ordered  the  members  to  return  to  their 
homes.     Howe,  in  his  history  of  Virginia  says : 

"On  the  following  day  the  members  convened  in  the  Raleigh 
tavern,  and,  in  an  able  and  manly  paper,  expressed  to  their  constit- 
uents and  their  government  those  sentiments  and  opinions  which 
they  had  not  been  allowed  to  express  in  a  legislative  form.  This 
meeting  recommended  a  cessation  of  trade  with  the  East  India 
Company,  a  Congress  of  deputies  from  all  the  colonies,  'declaring 
their  opinion  that  an  attack  upon  one  of  the  colonies  was  an  attack 
upon  all  British  America;'  and  a  convention  of  the  people  of  Vir- 
ginia. The  sentiments  of  the  people  accorded  with  those  of  their 
late  delegates;  they  elected  members  who  met  in  convention  at  Wil- 
limsburg,  on  the  1st,  of  August,  1774." 

The  convention  of  Virginians  gave  a  detailed  review  of  the  griev- 
ances that  had  been  imposed  upon  the  colonies,  demanded  measures 
of  relief,  elected  delegates  to  a  general  Congress  of  the  colonies,  and 
instructed  them  as  to  the  course  they  should  follow  in  the  Congress. 
The  Congress  assembled  at  Philadelphia  on  the  4th  of  September, 
1774;  and  was  in  session  while  Dunmore  was  engaged  in  his  expedi- 
tion to  Ohio  against  the  Indians.  It  is  believed  that  Dunmore,  in 
part,  planned  and  executed  his  expedition  to  Ohio  to  divert  the  atten- 
tion of  the  people  of  Virginia,  and  especially  those  who  lived  beyond 
the  Blue  Ridge  and  the  Alleghanies,  from  the  exciting  and  dangerous 
controversies  that  were  going  on  between  the  British  Government 


and  Southwest  Virginia  337 

and  the  colonies.     If  this  was  his  intention,  he  failed  most  signally 
in  its  accomplishment. 

On  the  14th,  of  October,  1774,  just  four  days  after  the  Virginia 
mountain  men  won  their  eventful  victory  at  Point  Pleasant,  the 
second  Continental  Congress,  in  session  at  Philadelphia,  passed 
strong  and  defiant  resolutions  setting  forth  numerous  grievances 
imposed  upon  the  colonies  and  demanding  redress  therefor.  The 
first  clause  of  the  preamble  was  in  the  following  words: 

"Whereas,  since  the  close  of  the  last  war,  the  British  Parliament, 
claiming  a  power  of  right  to  bind  the  people  of  America  by  statute, 
in  all  cases  whatsoever,  hath  in  some  Acts  expressly  imposed  taxes 
on  them,  and  on  various  other  pretences,  but  in  fact  for  the  purpose 
of  raising  a  revenue,  hath  imposed  rates  and  duties  payable  in  these 
Colonies,  established  a  board  of  commissioners  with  unconstitutional 
powers  and  extended  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Courts  of  Admiralty, 
not  only  for  collecting  the  said  duties  but  for  the  trial  of  causes 
merely  arising  within  the  body  of  a  county.  And  whereas,  in  con- 
sequence of  other  statutes,  judges,  who  before  held  only  estates  at 
will  in  their  oflBces,  have  been  made  dependent  on  the  Crown  alone 
for  their  salaries,  and  standing  armies  kept  in  time  of  peace.  And 
it  has  lately  been  resolved  in  Parliament,  that  by  force  of  a  statute 
made  in  the  35th  of  Henry  VIII.,  colonists  may  be  transported  to 
England  and  tried  there  upon  accusations  for  treasons  and  mis- 
prisions, or  concealment  of  treasons,  committed  in  the  Colonies ;  and 
by  a  late  statute,  such  trials  have  been  directed  in  cases  therein  men- 
tioned." 

The  second  clause  of  the  preamble  referred  to  the  Act  passed 
by  Parliament  to  discontinue  shipping  to  and  from  Boston  harbor, 
and  mentioned  the  several  other  acts  that  had  been  enacted  as  sup^ 
plemental  of  the  "Port  Bill;"  and  then  declared:  "All  of  which 
statutes  are  impolitick,  unjust  and  cruel  as  well  as  unconstitutional, 
and  most  dangerous  and  destructive  of  American  rights." 

In  the  third  clause  the  dissolving  of  the  legislative  bodies  by 
colonial  governors,  as  had  been  done  by  Dunmore  in  Virginia,  was 
referred  to  in  disapproving  terms ;  and  the  fourtli  clause  of  the  pre- 
amble announced  that  the  deputies  of  the  colonies  had  been  called 
together  in  a  general  Congress  for  the  purpose  of  asserting  and 
vindicating  their  rights  and  liberties,  and  to  make  known  to  the 
British  Government: 

T.H.— 22 


338  History  of  Tazewell  County 

"That  the  inhabitants  of  the  English  Colonies  in  North  America, 
by  the  immutable  laws  of  nature,  tlie  principles  of  the  English  Con- 
stitution and  the  several  charters  of  compacts,  have  the  following 
Rights." 

A  number  of  rights  were  claimed  for  the  American  colonies  and 
set  forth  in  the  resolutions  that  followed  the  preamble.  Among  the 
most  important  of  these  were:  the  entitlement  of  life,  liberty  and 
property;  the  enjoyment  of  the  rights,  liberties  and  immunities  of 
free  and  natural  born  subjects  within  the  realms  of  England;  the 
right  of  representation  in  British  Parliament,  or  to  be  free  from 
taxation  by  the  British  Government;  the  right  of  Provincial  Legis- 
latures alone  to  legislate  in  all  cases  of  taxes  and  internal  policy ; 
the  right  of  trial  by  a  jury  of  their  peers;  and  the  right  to  peacably 
assemble  and  consider  their  grievances.  These  and  other  rights 
were  claimed,  demanded  and  insisted  upon  as  their  indubitable  rights 
and  liberties,  of  which  they  could  not  be  deprived  "without  their 
own  consent,  by  their  representatives  in  their  several  Provincial 
Legislatures." 

After  passing  these  mildly  defiant  resolutions,  the  Congress,  on 
the  20tli  day  of  Octobei*,  1774-,  adopted  certain  articles  of  associa- 
tion, fourteen  in  number,  looking  to  the  future  trade  relations  of  the 
colonies  with  Great  Britain  and  her  dependencies.  The  first  article 
provided : 

"That  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  December  next,  we  will  not 
imiDort  into  British  America  from  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  any 
goods,  wares,  or  merchandize  whatsoever,  or  from  any  other  place, 
any  such  goods,  wares,  or  merchandize  as  shall  have  been  exported 
from  Great  Britain  or  Ireland,  nor  will  we,  after  that  day  import 
any  East  India  tea  from  any  part  of  the  world;  nor  any  molasses, 
syrups,  paneles,  coffee,  or  pimento,  from  British  plantations,  or  from 
Dominica;  nor  wines  from  Madeira,  or  the  Western  Islands;  nor 
foreign  indigo." 

The  second  article  was  one  of  seeming  little  importance  at  the 
time  of  its  adoption;  but  if  it  had  been  followed  strictly  after  the 
colonies  gained  their  independence  it  would  have  averted  the  Civil 
War  of  1861-65.     That  article  is  as  follows: 

"That  we  will  neither  import,  nor  purchase  any  slave  after  the 
first  day  of  December  next ;  after  which  time  we  will  wholly  discon- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  339 

tinue  the  slave  trade,  and  will  neither  be  concerned  in  it  ourselves 
nor  will  we  hire  our  vessels,  nor  sell  our  commodities  or  manufac- 
tures to  those  who  are  concerned  in  it." 

All  the  other  articles  were  directed  to  the  successful  enforcement 
of  the  embargo  against  Great  Britain.  The  fourth  article  emphat- 
ically declared  that  if  the  obnoxious  Acts  and  parts  of  Acts  passed 
by  the  Britisli  Parliament  were  not  repealed  by  the  10th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1775:  "We  will  not,  directly  or  indirectly,  export  any  merchan- 
dise or  commodity  whatsoever,  to  Great  Britain,  Ireland  or  the  West 
Indies,  except  via  Europe,"  meaning  the  neutral  countries  of  Europe. 
One  of  the  articles  provided  for  the  appointment  by  the  people  of 
the  counties',  cities  and  towns  of  committees  to  see  that  persons 
within  the  limits  of  their  appointments  did  not  violate  the  pro- 
visions of  the  articles ;  and  if  violaters  were  found  they  were  to  be 
published  as  "foes  to  British  America"  and  "the  enemies  of 
American  liberty."  These  committees  were  to  be  known  as  safety 
committees.  There  was  also  an  article  directed  against  profiteering, 
which  said:  "That  all  manufactures  of  this  counti*y  be  sold  at 
reasonable  prices,  so  that  no  undue  advantages  be  taken  of  a  future 
scarcity  of  goods." 

Previous  to  adjourning,  the  Congress  prepared  a  petition  to  the 
king,  addresses  to  all  the  several  American  colonies,  and  a  memorial 
to  the  people  of  England,  acquainting  them  with  the  work  that  had 
been  done  and  the  great  purposes  of  the  American  people.  After 
accomplishing  so  much  for  the  future  good  of  their  country,  the 
memorable  body  of  patriots  and  statesmen  adjourned  to  meet  again 
in  Philadelphia  on  the  10th  of  May,  1775. 

In  January,  1775,  at  the  instance  of  Lord  Dartmouth,  secretary 
of  state  for  the  colonies,  the  troubles  between  the  colonies  and  the 
home  government  were  made  the  subject  for  a  heated  discussion  in 
Parliament.  It  was  upon  this  occasion  that  William  Pitt,  the  Great 
Commoner,  became  the  fearless  champion  of  the  rights  of  the  colon- 
ists, and  unerringly  predicted  the  results  that  would  flow  from  an 
adherence  to  the  wicked  policy  inaugurated  by  the  British  ministry. 
The  stern  demands  of  the  colonies,  and  their  notice  that  all  com- 
mercial intercourse  with  Great  Britain  and  her  dependencies  would 
be  broken  off,  unless  the  demands  were  granted,  so  enraged  the 
vicious  ministers  of  George  III.  that  Parliament  was  constrained  to 


340  History  of  Tazewell  County 

stand  by  the  Crown.     And  the  GoA'ernment's  policy  of  outrage  and 
oppression  was  ordained  to  be  continued  and  mercilessly  enforced. 

Already  the  thought  of  independence  had  been  lodged  and  was 
steadily  growing  in  the  minds  of  the  colonists;  and  nowhere  had 
the  democratic  spirit  taken  deeper  root  than  with  the  brave  and 
hardy  pioneers  of  the  Virginia  mountain  regions.  Among  the  first 
to  act  upon  the  address  the  Continental  Congress  had  sent  to  the 
Virginians  were  the  men  of  Fincastle  County.  A  meeting  of  the 
freeholders  of  that  county  was  held  at  the  Lead  Mines,  the  county 
seat,  in  January,  1775,  to  consider  the  resolutions  and  articles  of 
association  adopted  by  the  Congress.  The  first  step  taken  by  the 
meeting  was  the  selection  of  a  committee  of  safety ;  and  the  recorded 
proceedings,  as  given  by  Summers,  were  as  follows: 

"In  obedience  to  the  resolves  of  the  Continental  Congress,  a 
meeting  of  the  Freeholders  of  Fincastle  County,  in  Virginia,  was 
held  on  the  20th  day  of  January,  1775,  who  after  approving  of  the 
Association  framed  by  that  aug-ust  body  in  behalf  of  the  Colonies, 
and  subscribing  thereto,  proceeded  to  the  election  of  a  Committee, 
to  see  the  same  carried  punctually  into  execution,  when  the  follow- 
ing gentlemen  were  nominated:  the  Reverend  Charles  Cunimtngs, 
Colonel  William  Preston,  Colonel  William  Christian,  Captain 
Stephen  Trigg,  Major  Artlnir  Campbell,  Major  William  Inglis, 
Captain  Walter  Crockett,  Captain  John  Montgomery,  Captain  James 
Mc.Gavoch,  Captain  William  Campbell,  Captain  Thomas  Madison, 
Captain  Daniel  Smith,  Captain  William  Russell,  Captain  Evan 
Shelby,  and  Lieutenant  Willia7n  Edmondson.  After  the  election  the 
committee  made  choice  of  Colonel  William  Christian  for  their  chair- 
man, and  appointed  Mr.  David  Campbell  to  be  clerk." 

It  was  also  ordered  by  the  meeting,  that  an  address  expressing 
the  thanks  and  congratulations  of  the  people  of  Fincastle  County  be 
prepared  and  sent  to  the  citizens  who  had  represented  Virginia  at 
the  recent  session  of  the  Continental  Congress.  The  address  was 
promptly  written  and  forwarded,  addressed  as  follows: 

"To  the  Honorable  Peyton  Randolph,  Esquire,  Richard  Henry 
Lee,  George  Washington,  Patrick  Henry,  Junior,  Richard  Bland, 
Benjamin  Harrison,  and  Edmund  Pendleton,  Esquires,  the  Dele- 
gates from  this  Colony,  zvho  attended  the  Continental  Congress  held 
at  Philadelphia: 


and  Southwest  Virginia  341 

"Gentlemen, — Had  it  not  been  for  our  remote  situation  and  the 
Indian  War  which  we  were  lately  engaged  in  to  chastise  those  cruel 
and  savage  people  for  the  many  murders  and  depredations  they  have 
committed  amongst  us,  now  happily  terminated  under  the  auspices 
of  our  present  worthy  Governor,  His  Excellency  the  Right  Honor- 
able the  Earl  of  Dunmore,  we  should  before  this  time  have  made 
known  to  you  our  thankfulness  for  the  very  important  services  you 
have  rendered  to  your  country,  in  conjunction  with  the  worthy  Dele- 
gates from  the  other  Provinces.  Your  noble  efforts  for  reconciling 
the  mother  country  and  the  Colonies,  on  rational  and  constitutional 
principles,  and  your  pacifick,  steady  and  uniform  conduct  in  that 
arduous  work  entitle  you  to  the  esteem  of  all  British  America,  and 
will  immortalize  you  in  the  annals  of  your  country.  We  heartily 
concur  in  your  resolutions,  and  shall,  in  every  instance,  strictly  and 
invariably  adhere  thereto. 

"We  assure  you,  gentlemen,  and  all  our  countrymen,  that  we  are 
a  people  whose  hearts  overflow  with  love  and  duty  to  our  lawful 
Sovereign,  George  the  Third,  whose  illustrious  House  for  several 
successive  reigns  have  been  the  guardians  of  the  civil  and  religious 
rights  and  liberties  of  British  subjects,  as  settled  at  the  glorious 
Revolution ;  that  we  are  willing  to  risk  our  lives  in  the  service  of  his 
Majesty  for  the  support  of  the  Protestant  religion  and  the  rights 
and  liberties  of  his  subjects,  as  they  have  been  established  by  com- 
pact, law  and  ancient  charters.  We  are  heartily  grieved  at  the  dif- 
ferences which  now  subsist  between  the  parent  state  and  the  Colo- 
nies, and  most  ardently  wish  to  see  harmony  restored  on  an  equitable 
basis  and  by  the  most  lenient  measures  that  can  be  devised  by  the 
heart  of  man.  Many  of  us  and  our  forefathers  left  our  native  land, 
considering  it  as  a  kingdom  subjected  to  inordinate  power  and 
greatly  abridged  of  its  liberties;  we  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  ex- 
plored this  then  uncultivated  wilderness  bordering  on  many  nations 
of  savages  and  surrounded  by  mountains  almost  inaccessible  to  any 
but  those  very  savages,  who  have  incessantly  been  committing  bar- 
barities and  depredations  on  us  since  our  first  seating  the  country. 
These  fatigues  and  dangers  we  patiently  encountered,  supported  by 
the  pleasing  hope  of  enjoying  those  rights  and  liberties  which  had 
been  granted  to  Virginians,  and  were  denied  in  our  native  country, 
and  of  transmitting  them  inviolate  to  our  posterity ;  but  even  to  these 
remote  regions  the  hand  of  unlimited  and  unconstitutional  power 
hath  pursued  us,  to  strip  us  of  that  liberty  and  property  with  which 


342  History  of  Tazewell  County 

God,  nature  and  the  rights  of  humanity  have  vested  us.  We  are 
ready  and  willing  to  contribute  all  in  our  power  for  the  support  of 
his  Majesty's  government,  if  applied  to  constitutionally,  and  when 
the  grants  are  made  by  our  own  Representatives,  but  cannot  think  of 
submitting  our  liberty  or  property  to  the  power  of  a  venal  British 
Parliament,  or  to  the  will  of  a  corrupt  Ministry.  We  by  no  means 
desire  to  shake  off  our  duty  or  allegiance  to  our  lawful  sovereign, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  shall  ever  glory  in  being  the  loyal  subjects  of 
a  Protestant  prince,  descended  from  such  illustrious  progenitors,  so 
long  as  we  can  enjoy  the  free  exercise  of  our  religion  as  Protestants, 
and  our  liberties  and  properties  as  British  Subjects. 

"But  if  no  pacifick  measures  shall  be  proposed  or  adopted  by 
Great  Britain,  and  our  enemies  will  attemjit  to  dragoon  us  out  of 
those  inestimable  privileges,  which  we  are  entitled  to  as  subjects, 
and  to  reduce  us  to  a  state  of  slavery,  we  declare  that  we  are  deliber- 
ately and  resolutely  determined  never  to  surrender  them  to  any 
power  upon  earth  but  at  the  expense  of  our  lives. 

"These  are  our  real,  though  unpolished,  sentiments  of  liberty 
and  loyalty,  and  in  them  we  are  resolved  to  live  or  die. 

"We  are,  gentlemen,  with  the  most  perfect  esteem  and  regard, 
your  most  obedient  servants." 

There  is  nothing  obtainable  from  contemporaneous  records  to 
show  the  number  of  men  that  attended  the  meeting.  But  there  must 
have  been  a  large  gathering,  with  every  section  of  Fincastle  County 
represented,  the  Clinch  Valley  included,  as  two  members  of  the 
committee,  Captains  Smith  and  Russell,  were  from  that  valley.  His- 
torians, who  have  published  and  commented  upon  the  address,  have 
generally  abscribed  its  authorship  to  Reverend  Charles  Cummings. 
They  appear  to  have  reached  this  conclusion  from  tradition.  The 
phraseology  of  the  paper  shows  beyond  dispute  that  it  was  written 
by  a  preacher,  and  not  by  a  soldier  or  politician.  Reverend  Cum- 
mings was  a  preacher,  the  only  one  on  the  Committee,  and  was  its 
most  highly  educated  member.  The  professions  of  love  and  duty 
for  George  III.  and  his  "illustrious  House"  indicate  that  the  man 
who  drafted  the  address  was  an  extreme  Protestant  in  religion,  and 
found  one  redeeming  virtue  in  the  otherwise  rejDulsive  character  of 
King  George — the  adherence  of  the  House  of  Hanover  to  the  cause 
of  Protestantism  in  its  terrible  struggle  with  Roman  Catholicism. 
The  love  and  duty  which  overflowed  the  hearts  of  the  men  of  Fincas- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  343 

tie  and  of  "the  fighting  parson,"  for  George  III.  were  made  a 
secondary  consideration  when  they  realized  that  their  civil  and 
religious  rights  were  being  violated  by  the  English  King.  Hence 
their  stern  intention  to  defend  those  rights  at  any  cost,  as  written 
in  a  closing  paragraph:  "We  declare  that  we  are  deliberately  and 
resolutely  determined  never  to  surrender  them  to  any  power  upon 
earth  but  at  the  expense  of  our  lives." 

The  Tazewell  pioneers,  no  doubt,  to  a  man,  were  in  accord  with 
this  expressed  determination  of  their  fellow-countrymen  to  resist  to 
the  utmost  any  attempt  to  abridge  their  rights  as  American  citizens. 
They  had  been  made  genuinely  and  religiously  responsive  to  the 
charm  of  the  freedom  they  were  enjoying  in  this  grand  mountain 
country — a  freedom  that  was  then  unknown  in  any  European  mon- 
archy, and  which  exists  in  none  of  them  now.  Though  the  worship 
of  Kingship  had  not  been  discarded  by  all  the  settlers  west  of  New 
River,  it  soon  disappeared  when  there  came  a  clash  of  arms  between 
the  patriot  colonists  and  the  armies  of  England. 

Immediately  after  the  news  was  received  in  England  that  the 
Continental  Congress  had  recommended  to  the  colonies  a  suspension 
of  all  commercial  intercourse  with  Great  Britain  and  her  depend- 
encies. Parliament  retaliated  by  ordering  that  the  colonies  be 
forced  into  acceptance  of  the  obnoxious  shipping  laws  and  the  tax 
on  tea.  General  Gage,  who  had  recently  been  made  governor  of 
Massachusetts.  Avas  ordered  to  begin  a  campaign  of  subjugation; 
and  a  fleet  and  an  army  of  ten  thousand  men  were  sent  him  from 
England  to  aid  in  the  campaign.  As  soon  as  his  plans  were  settled 
upon,  Gage  seized  and  fortified  Boston  Neck,  had  the  military  stores 
in  the  arsenals  at  Cambridge  and  Charlestown  removed  to  Boston, 
and  issued  peremptory  orders  to  the  jNIassachusetts  General  Assem- 
bly to  dissolve  and  disperse.  Instead  of  cringingly  obeying  the  com- 
mands of  the  governor,  the  members  resolved  themselves  into  a  Pro- 
vincial Congress  to  devise  plans  and  furnish  means  for  meeting  force 
with  force.  They  appropriated  money  for  the  organization  ar<'^ 
equipping  of  an  army  of  twelve  thousand  men  for  the  defence  of 
the  colony.  It  was  a  daring  and  dangerous  course  of  action  for  a 
feeble  colony  to  follow,  to  thus  defy  the  greatest  naval  and  military 
power  of  the  world.  But  the  patriots  of  Massachusetts  had  received 
assurances  from  Virginia  and  her  other  sister  colonies  that  they 
would  stand  faithfully  by  them  in  the  mighty  struggle  to  preserve 
inviolate  their  rights  as  American  freemen. 


344  History  of  Tazewell  County 


BATTLES  OF  LEXINGTON  AND  BUNKER  HILL. 

When  Gage  began  to  reveal  his  pvirpose  to  use  an  armed  force  to 
suppress  the  spirit  of  revolt,  the  people  of  Boston  decided  to  take 
their  supplies  of  arms  and  ammunition  to  Concord,  sixteen  miles  dis- 
tant. This  was  effected  by  concealing  the  ammunition  in  cart  loads 
of  rubbish  and  hauling  the  supplies  to  the  desired  destination.  In 
some  way  Gage  was  informed  of  the  movement  of  the  Boston  people ; 
and  he  secretly  sent  Colonel  Smith  and  Major  Pitcairn  with  a  regi- 
ment of  eight  hundred  soldiers,  on  the  night  of  the  18th  of  April, 
for  the  two-fold  purpose  of  destroying  the  stores  of  ammunition 
and  capturing  John  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams.  These  two  men 
were  the  main  leaders  of  the  revolt  in  Massachusetts.  The  detach- 
ment of  soldiers  started  for  Concord  about  midnight,  and  the  move- 
ment was  quickly  discovered  by  some  of  the  alert  citizens.  They 
gave  an  alarm  to  the  people  of  Boston.  Cambridge  and  Charlestown 
by  ringing  bells  and  firing  cannon.  Tlie  fearless  patriot,  Joseph 
Warren  started  Paul  Revere  on  his  memorable  midnight  ride  through 
Charlestown  to  Concord  and  Lexington  to  warn  the  people  of  the 
hostile  approach  of  the  British  soldiers  under  Smith  and  Pitcairn. 
This  ride  has  ever  since  been  famous  in  song  and  story.  Revere 
eluded  the  enemy  pickets  and  succeeded  in  arousing  the  people; 
and  when  the  British  column  reached  Lexington  a  company  of  militia, 
commanded  by  Captain  John  Parker,  was  formed  on  the  town  com- 
mon to  meet  the  coming  foe.  Pitcairn  was  in  charge  of  the  advance 
troops,  and  when  he  saw  the  patriots  were  prepared  to  resist  his 
progress,  he  halted  his  men,  ordered  them  to  load  their  gims  and 
advanced  at  the  double-quick  upon  Parker  and  his  men.  Riding  at 
the  fi'ont,  Major  Pitcairn  cried  out:  "Disperse,  ye  villains !  Throw 
down  your  arms,  ye  rebels  and  disperse;"  but  the  Americans  reso- 
lutely held  their  ground.  Major  Pitcairn,  seeing  their  purpose  not 
to  yield,  fired  his  pistol  at  them  and  then  ordered  his  men  to  fire. 
The  order  was  obeyed,  and  the  first  dicharge  of  the  British  musk- 
ets killed  four  and  wounded  nine  of  the  Massachusetts  men.  This 
was  the  first  volley  that  was  fired  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

Being  greatly  outnumbered  the  Americans  began  to  disperse,  and 
four  more  of  their  number  were  killed  while  retreating.  A  scatter- 
ing fire  from  Captain  Parker's  men  wounded  three  of  the  British 
soldiers  and  Major  Pitcairn's  horse.  The  militia  having  dispersed; 
the  British   column   marched   on   to   effect  the  main   obiect   of  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  345 

expedition;  and  arrived  at  Concord  at  7:30  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
They  found  but  little  ammunition  there,  as  the  inhabitants  had ' 
moved  the  larger  part  of  their  stores  to  other  places  for  concealment. 
Two  cannons  were  spiked  and  their  carriages  destroyed,  and  a  small 
quantity  of  ammunition  was  thrown  into  a  nearby  mill  pond.  While 
the  British  were  engaged  in  their  work  of  devastation,  the  surround- 
ing country  having  been  thoroughly  aroused,  minute-men  began  to 
assemble  from  all  directions.  The  Americans  determined  to  enter 
the  village  and  drive  the  British  away;  and,  in  carrying  out  this 
design,  found  a  company  of  the  enemy  guarding  the  North  Bridge 
that  spanned  Concord  River.  On  discovery  of  the  British,  the 
American  officers  for  the  first  time  ordered  their  men  to  fire,  and 
two  of  the  enemy  were  killed  by  this  first  volley  of  the  Americans. 
From  that  moment  the  colonists  became  the  aggressors  in  the  run- 
ning battle  that  has  since  been  called  the  "Battle  of  Lexington." 
The  bridge  was  captured  by  the  provincials,  the  enemy  retired  into 
the  town,  and  then  began  to  retreat  along  the  road  to  Lexington. 
Between  Concord  and  Lexington  many  of  the  patriots  had  concealed 
themselves  on  the  sides  of  the  road ;  and  for  six  miles  along  the  high- 
way the  terrified  British  soldiers  were  treated  to  a  galling  fire  by 
the  men  who  were  hidden  behind  rocks,  trees,  fences  and  barns. 
Lord  Percy  met  the  fugitives  a  short  distance  from  Lexington  with 
reinforcements,  and  saved  Colonel  Smith's  forces  from  a  complete 
rout.  The  fight  was  continued,  however,  until  the  precincts  of 
Charlestown  were  reached.  As  the  conflict  continued  the  untrained 
Americans  gained  courage  and  confidence,  and  would  probably  have 
demanded  the  surrender  of  Smith's  and  Pitcaim's  forces  if  they  had 
not  feared  that  the  British  fleet  would  bombard  and  burn  Boston. 
The  losses  of  the  Americans  in  the  first  battle  of  the  war  were  forty- 
nine  killed,  thirty-four  wounded  and  five  missing,  while  the  British 
losses  in  killed  and  wounded  numbered  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
three. 

The  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  spread  through  all  the 
colonies  with  remarkable  rapidity,  though  the  means  the  provinces 
had  for  communicating  with  each  other  were  very  limited.  It  filled 
the  masses  of  the  people,  who  had  determined  to  separate  them- 
selves from  the  monarchy  of  England,  with  enthusiasm.  The  victory 
proved  that  America  had  the  men,  and,  if  adequate  means  could  be 
obtained  for  maintaining  her  armies,  success  was  assured  for  the 
Revolution. 


346  History  of  Tazewell  County 

New  England  was  fired  with  zeal  for  the  American  cause,  and 
within  a  few  days  after  the  battle  was  fought  an  army  of  twenty 
thousand  patriots  had  gathered  about  Boston.  Nearly  all  the  leaders 
and  many  of  the  men  of  this  provincial  host  were  veterans  of  the 
French  and  Indian  War.  A  line  of  entrenchments  was  thrown  up 
which  surrounded  the  city  from  Roxbury  to  Chelsea,  and  it  was  the 
common  purpose  of  the  Colonials  to  drive  Gage  with  his  army  from 
the  city.  The  Colonial  forces  were  constantly  increasing  in  numbers. 
John  Stark  arrived  with  the  New  Hampshire  militia;  grand  old 
Israel  Putman  was  plowing  when  tidings  of  the  battle  of  Lexington 
reached  him;  he  left  his  plow  in  the  field,  turned  his  oxen  loose, 
mounted  a  horse  and  rode  to  Cambridge  in  one  day,  a  distance  of 
sixty-eight  miles.  He  procured  a  commission  of  brigadier  general 
from  the  provincial  legislature,  spurned  a  commission  of  major  gen- 
eral offered  him  in  the  royal  army,  organized  a  regiment  of  men, 
and  afterwards  joined  his  compatriots  at  Boston.  Nathaniel  Green 
came  with  Rhode  Island's  quota,  and  Benedict  Arnold  arrived  with 
the  provincials  from  New  Haven. 

Events  of  great  interest  to  the  colonies  occurred  in  rapid  suc- 
cession. Ethan  Allen  and  his  Green  ^Mountain  boys  on  the  9th  of 
May  captured  Ticonderoga.  With  a  mere  handful  of  men,  eighty- 
three  in  number.  Allen  crossed  Lake  Champlain  and  made  a  surprise 
attack  at  daybreak  upon  the  fort.  The  sentinel  at  the  gate  was 
driven  from  his  post,  and  Allen's  men  faced  the  barracks  ready  to 
fire  upon  the  garrison  if  resistance  was  shown.  Allen,  with  Benedict 
Arnold,  who  had  gone  along  as  a  private,  rushed  to  the  quarters  of 
Delaplace.  the  commandant,  roused  him  from  his  slumbers,  and 
called  for  a  surrender  of  the  fort,  ^\^len  Delaplace  asked:  "By 
what  authority.^"  Allen  flourished  his  sword  and  shouted:  "In  the 
name  of  the  Great  Jehovah  and  the  Continental  Congress."  The 
English  ofiicer,  with  his  garrison  of  forty-eight  men  surrendered  a 
fort  which  had  cost  Great  Britain  eight  million  pounds  sterling. 
Two  days  afterwards  the  Americans  took  Skenesborough  and  Crown 
Point;  and  all  the  northern  region  was  wrested  from  the  English. 

Generals  Howe,  Clinton  and  Burgoyne  arrived  at  Boston  on  the 
25th  of  May,  bringing  with  them  heavy  reinforcements  from  Eng- 
land and  Ireland,  increasing  the  British  army  to  more  than  ten 
thousand  men.  The  British  generals  lost  no  time  in  preparing  plans 
to  bring  the  Americans  into  submission.  General  Gage  issued  a 
proclamation  in  which  he  pronounced  the  revolting  colonists  rebels 


and  Southwest  Virginia  347 

and  traitors,  but  offered  pardon  to  all,  except  John  Hancock  and 
Samuel  Adams,  who  would  lay  down  their  arms  and  renew  their 
allegiance  to  England.  This  arrogant  proposition  was  scornfully 
rejected  by  the  patriotic  men  of  New  England. 

The  Americans  in  some  way  obtained  information  that  the 
British  were  getting  ready  to  make  sallies  from  Boston,  to  drive 
away  the  jjrovincial  forces  and  devastate  the  surrounding  country. 
Influenced  by  this  information,  on  the  night  of  June  16th  a  thousand 
men  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Prescott,  grandfather  of  the 
great  historian  of  that  name,  equipped  with  picks  and  spades,  slip- 
ped away  from  the  American  camp  and  threw  up  entrenchments  on 
Bunker  Hill.  A  redoubt  eight  rods  square  was  planned  by  the 
engineers,  and  by  daybreak  was  nearly  completed.  The  British 
ships  were  so  near  that  the  Americans  while  at  work  could  hear  the 
sentinels  on  the  vessels  calling  out,  on  the  hours,  "All  is  well."  At 
day-dawn  the  fortifications  were  revealed  to  the  British,  and  it  was 
seen  that  Prescott's  cannon  would  command  the  city.  General  Gage 
and  his  ofiicers  decided  that  the  safety  of  the  British  army  demanded 
expulsion  of  the  Americans  from  the  fortifications  on  the  hill.  The 
guns  of  the  fleet,  and  the  British  batteries  on  Copp's  Hill,  were 
turned  loose  on  the  American  position,  but  did  little  damage.  About 
noon  a  British  force  of  three  thousand  veterans,  commanded  by 
Generals  Howe  and  Pigot,  landed  at  Morton's  Point  and  made  an 
assault  upon  the  Americans.  Prescott  had  at  this  time  fifteen  hun- 
dred men,  who  were  weary  and  hungry,  but  they  bravely  stood  to 
their  guns  and  awaited  the  approach  of  the  enemy.  Generals  Put- 
nam and  Warren  entered  the  trenches  and  fought  throughout  the 
battle  as  privates.  The  British  column  was  ordered  to  advance  at 
three  o'clock  and  at  the  same  time,  by  prearrangement,  every  gun  of 
the  fleet  and  the  shore  batteries  of  the  British  was  opened  upon  the 
Americans.  Prescott  directed  his  men  not  to  fire  until  an  order  was 
given  them.  When  the  enemy  got  within  fifty  yards  of  the  trenches 
the  order  to  fire  was  given,  and  every  gun  in  the  redoubt  was  quickly 
discharged.  The  front  line  of  the  British  was  swept  away  by  the 
deadly  aim  of  the  Americans ;  and  the  enemy  recoiled  and  retreated 
beyond  small  gun  range. 

As  quickly  as  possible  the  British  lines  were  reformed  and 
another  advance  was  made  ujoon  the  Americans,  with  the  same  result 
as  the  first.  A  third  assault  was  made  and  the  Americans  had  but 
three  or  four  rounds  of  ammunition  per  man  left,  and  as  soon  as  this 


348  History  of  Tazewell  County 

was  exhausted  the  British  host  scaled  the  trenches.  The  Americans 
clubbed  their  guns  and  still  fought  the  enemy,  but  were  forced  to 
retire  from  the  trenches  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  The  British  lost 
a  thousand  and  fifty-four,  killed  and  wounded,  in  the  battle,  while 
the  American  losses  were  one  hundred  and  fifteen  killed,  three  hun- 
dred and  five  wounded,  and  thirty-two  prisoners.  Among  the  Amer- 
ican dead  was  the  gallant  General  Warren.  The  retreat  was  effected 
by  way  of  Charlestown  Neck  and  Prospect  Hill,  and  a  new  line  of 
entrenchments  was  made,  which  left  with  the  Americans  command 
of  the  entrance  to  Boston ;  and  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  gave  fresh 
encouragement  to  the  colonists.  When  the  news  of  the  battle  was 
carried  to  the  Southern  provinces  the  spirit  of  resistance  to  Bi'itish 
tyranny  was  greatly  increased;  and  the  scheme  for  forming  the 
government  of  The  United  Colonies  of  America  was  given  fresh 
impulse. 

The  day  that  Ethan  Allen  and  his  Green  Mountain  boys  cap- 
tured Ticonderoga  the  Continental  Congress  reassembled  at  Phila- 
delphia, pursuant  to  adjournment  the  previous  autumn.  George 
Washington,  John  Adams,  Samuel  Adams,  Benjamin  Franklin, 
Patrick  Henry,  and  others,  who  were  to  be  conspicuous  figures  in 
the  Revolution,  were  members  of  the  august  body. 

Composed  of  such  men  as  these,  the  Congress  was  still  controlled 
by  a  conservative  and  compromising  spirit.  The  delegates  were  so 
reluctant  to  engage  in  a  bloody  conflict  with  the  mother  country  that 
another  written  appeal  was  prepared  and  forwarded  to  George  III., 
urging  him  to  recede  from  his  policy  of  oppression  toward  his 
American  subjects.  In  this  memorial,  however,  the  king  was  given 
to  understand  that,  if  necessary,  the  colonies  would  fight  to  the 
bitter  end  for  the  preservation  of  their  civil  and  religious  freedom. 
Congress  recognized  the  necessity  for  co-ordinating  the  military 
forces  of  the  colonies  and  took  steps  for  organizing  a  Continental 
army.  The  necessity  for  having  a  commander-in-chief  was  also  seen, 
and  John  Adams  nominated  George  Washington,  of  Virginia,  for 
the  responsible  position.  On  the  15th  of  June,  1775,  Congress 
unanimously  confirmed  his  nomination.  Washington  was  so  awed  by 
the  heavy  responsibilities  he  was  called  upon  to  bear  that,  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  he  remarked  to  Patrick  Henry:  "I  fear  that  this 
day  will  mark  the  downfall  of  my  reputation."  But  the  great  patriot 
accepted  the  heavy  task  and  proceeded  to  Boston  as  quickly  as  pos- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  349 

sible  to  take  command  of  the  Continental  army  at  that  place,  which 
was  accomplished  fifteen  days  after  the  battle  of  Bimker  Hill. 

During  the  spring,  summer  and  fall  of,  1775,  the  authority  of 
England's  King  was  superseded  by  independent  republican  govern- 
ments in  all  the  colonies.  The  Virginia  colonists  had  kept  apace 
with  the  colonies  of  New  England.  In  March  a  convention  of  Vir- 
ginians was  held  in  Old  St.  John's  Church  at  Richmond.  Patrick 
Henry  urged  that  an  army  be  raised  to  i-esist  British  oppression; 
and  in  support  of  his  suggestion  made  the  wonderful  speech  that 
would  have  immortalized  him  if  he  had  done  nothing  else  to  assist 
in  freeing  his  countrymen  from  enslavement  by  England. 

The  hostile  conduct  of  the  colonies  caused  the  issuance  of  orders 
to  the  several  colonial  governors  to  place  all  military  stores  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  patriots.  In  compliance  with  these  orders,  Governor 
Dunmore,  on  the  19th  of  April,  1775,  secretly  removed  the  gun- 
powder from  the  magazine  at  Williamsburg,  and  stoi*ed  it  on  the 
Magdalen,  a  British  man-of-war,  that  was  anchored  off  Yorktown. 
The  people  of  Williamsburg  remonstrated  with  Dunmore  and  threat- 
ened to  seize  his  person  if  the  powder  was  not  returned.  Dunmore 
was  so  exasperated  that  he  swore  if  any  injury  was  offered  to  him- 
self or  the  officers  who  had  acted  under  his  orders,  he  would  free 
the  slaves  and  destroy  Williamsburg  with  fire.  These  brutal  threats 
not  only  failed  to  suppress  the  people,  but  caused  such  indignation 
throughout  the  colony  that  thousands  of  men  from  all  sections  of 
Virginia  armed  themselves,  assembled  at  Fredericksburg,  and  offered 
their  services  to  defend  the  capital  and  drive  Dunmore  from  the 
colony.  Patrick  Henry  was  the  leader  of  this  movement ;  and  Dun- 
more was  so  greatly  alarmed  that  he  sent  the  King's  receiver-general 
to  Henry  and  paid  him  for  the  powder. 

CONVENTION  OF  FINCASTLE  MEN. 

On  the  15th  of  July,  1775,  the  Committee  of  Safety  for  Fincastle 
County  met  at  the  Lead  Mines.  After  protesting  against  the  dis- 
honorable acts  of  Dunmore,  the  following  resolutions  were  adopted: 

"Resolved,  that  the  spirited  and  meritorious  conduct  of  Patrick 
Henry,  Esq.,  and  the  rest  of  the  gentlemen  volunteers  attending  him 
on  the  occasion  of  the  removal  of  the  gunpowder  out  of  the  magazine 
at  Williamsburg,  very  justly  merits  the  very  hearty  approbation  of 
this  Committee,  for  which  we  return  them  our  thanks,  with  an  assur- 
ance that  we  will,  at  the  risk  of  our  lives  and  fortunes,  support  and 
justify  them  with  regard  to  the  reprisals  they  made. 


350  History  of  Tazewell  County 

"Resolved,  That  the  council  of  this  Colony  in  advising  and  co- 
operating with  Lord  Dunmore  in  issuing  the  proclamation  of  the 
3rd  of  May  last,  charging  the  people  of  this  Colony  with  an  ungov- 
ernable spirit  and  licentious  practices,  is  contrary  to  many  known 
matters  of  fact,  and  but  too  justly  shows  to  us  that  those  who  ought 
to  be  mediators  and  guardians  of  our  liberties  are  become  the  abject 
tools  of  a  detested  administration. 

"Resolved  that  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  committee  that  the  late 
sanguinary  attempt  and  preparation  of  the  King's  troops,  in  the 
colony  of  Narragansett  Bay,  are  truly  alarming  and  irritating,  and 
loudly  call  upon  all,  even  the  most  distant  and  interiour  parts  of  the 
Colonies,  to  prepare  and  be  ready  for  the  extreme  event,  by  a  fixed 
resolution  and  a  firm  and  manly  resolve  to  avert  ministerial  cruelty 
in  defence  of  our  reasonable  rights  and  liberties." 

In  this  way  the  people  of  Fincastle  Coimty,  including  the  set- 
tlers of  Clinch  Valley,  thoroughly  identified  themselves  with  the 
struggle  the  American  colonies  were  making  for  their  independence. 
As  soon  as  tlie  Colonial  Convention,  which  met  at  Williamsburg  on 
the  24'th  of  July,  1775,  made  provision  for  the  raising  of  two  regi- 
ments of  soldiers,  to  be  commanded  by  Patrick  Henry,  the  county  of 
Fincastle  promptly  sent  a  company  of  its  daring  riflemen  to 
Williamsburg.  The  company  was  under  the  command  of  Captain 
William  Campbell,  and  did  valiant  sei-vice  in  the  struggle  which  was 
then  taking  place  between  Governor  Dunmore  and  the  revolting 
colonists.  Historians  have  vainly  tried  to  find  a  roll  of  the  men 
who  composed  Campbell's  company.  Captain  Campbell  lived  in  the 
Holston  Valley,  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  most  of  the 
members  of  his  company  were  from  that  valley.  It  is  more  than 
probable  that  some  were  from  the  Clinch  Valley,  as  this  valley  fur- 
nished men  for  all  preceding  and  succeeding  military  expeditions 
that  went  from  the  country  west  of  New  River. 

Dunmore  had,  on  the  8th  of  June,  fled  from  Williamsburg  and 
gone  on  board  the  warship  Fowey  at  Yorktown.  The  General 
Assembly  invited  him  to  return  to  Williamsburg  to  sign  bills  of 
importance  to  the  colony,  and  perform  other  necessary  duties  of  his 
office.  He  refused  to  exercise  the  functions  of  governor  in  associa- 
tion with  the  General  Assembly,  unless  that  body  would  hold  its 
sessions  at  Yorktown,  where  he  could  be  protected  by  the  gims  of 
his  ship.  This  proposal  was  rejected  by  the  Assembly,  and  all  offi- 
cial intercourse  between  it  and  the  governor  was  terminated.     The 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


351 


last  of  June,  Uunmore  sailed  down  York  River,  away  from  the  seat 
of  government,  and  was  never  again  at  Williamsburg. 

Regarding  the  royal  government  in  Virginia  as  ended,  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  was  dissolved  with  an  agreement  that  the  members 
would  meet  in  convention  at  Richmond  to  organize  a  provisional 
government  and  formulate  a  plan  of  defence.  The  convention  met, 
pursuant  to  agreement,  on  the  17th  of  July,  and  elected  a  committee 
of  safety  to  temporarily  direct  the  affairs  of  the  new  government. 


The  old  Magazine,  still  standing  at  Williamsburg,  from  which 
Governor  Dunmore  removed  the  powder. 

This  committee  was  composed  of  the  following  then  distinguished, 
and  afterwards  illustrious  citizens  of  Virginia: — Edmund  Pendle- 
ton, George  Mason,  John  Page,  Richard  Bland,  Thomas  Ludwell 
Lee,  Paul  Carrington,  Dudley  Digges,  James  ]\Iercer,  Carter  Brax- 
ton, William  Cabell,  and  John  Tabb.  This  excellent  committee  very 
efficiently  and  loyally  administered  the  government  until  the  ist  of 
July,  1776,  when  the  State  Government  was  organized,  with  Patrick 
Henry  as  Governor. 

After  he  sailed  from  Yorktown  in  June,  1775,  Dunmore  remained 
for  about  a  year  at  difterent  localities  on  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  and 
there  wei-e  several  collisions  of  minor  importance  between  his  troops 
and  the  Colonials.  He  finally  located  on  Gwynn's  Island,  off  the 
coast  of  the  present  Matthews  County.  From  that  place  he  was 
driven  away  on  the  9th  of  July,  1776,  by  General  Andrew  Lewis, 
who  was  then  commander  of  all  the  Virginia  military  forces. 


352  History  of  Tazewell  County 

It  looked  like  retributive  justice  for  the  splendid  mountain 
soldier  to  enjoy  the  privilege  of  chasing  the  treacherous  Scotch 
Royalist  Governor  from  the  soil  of  the  Old  Dominion.  Lewis  felt 
that  Dunmore  had  acted  insincerely  and  treacherously  toward  him 
and  his  army  of  moimtaineers  after  they  had  made  their  laborious 
and  dangerous  march  to  Ohio  in  1774;  and  the  last  official  act  of 
Dunmore  tended  to  confirm  this  suspicion  of  his  integrity.  His  last 
official  act  was  the  issuing  of  an  order  for  disbanding  the  garrison 
at  Fort  Blair,  the  fort  which  Colonel  Andrew  Lewis  had  built  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Kanawha  after  he  had  defeated  the  Shawnees  at  Point 
Pleasant.  This  order  was  made  in  furtherance  of  a  diabolical 
scheme  to  turn  the  Ohio  Indians  loose  upon  the  Virginia  frontiers 
while  the  war  was  raging  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies. 
The  plan  of  execution  was  to  be  worked  out  by  John  Connolly,  the 
despised  Tory  agent  of  Dunmore,  who  had  been  the  latter's  com- 
panion and  adviser  on  the  Ohio  expedition  in  the  autumn  of  1774. 
Connolly  was  sent  to  General  Gage  at  Boston,  and  returned  from 
that  place  in  October  invested  with  a  commission  of  lieutenant 
colonel  of  a  regiment  of  loyalists  to  be  raised  on  the  frontiers.  The 
plans  agreed  upon  were  to  have  the  various  Indian  tribes  co-operate 
with  the  Tories  in  harrassing  the  frontiers,  then  to  assemble  at 
Fort  Pitt,  and  from  there  march  to  Alexandria,  where  they  would 
be  joined  by  Dunmore.  The  plot  was  for  a  time  successfully 
advanced,  but  suspicions  were  at  last  awakened  that  led  to  the  arrest 
of  one  of  Connolly's  emmisaries,  upon  whose  person  incriminating 
papers  were  found.  This  was  followed  by  the  arrest  of  Connolly 
and  two  confederates,  Allen  Cameron  and  Dr.  John  Smith,  both 
Scotchmen.  They  were  apprehended  at  Hagerstown,  Maryland,  en- 
route  for  Detroit,  where  they  were  going  to  bribe  the  Indians  and 
incite  them  to  begin  murdering  the  frontier  settlers.  When  the  bag- 
gage of  Connolly  was  searched  a  general  plan  of  the  entire  campaign 
was  discovered.  Large  sums  of  money  and  a  letter  from  Dunmore 
to  one  of  the  great  Indian  chiefs  were  also  found.  The  discovery  of 
the  plot  saved  all  the  western  frontiers  for  a  time  from  a  concerted 
invasion  by  the  Indians  and  Connolly's  regiment  of  Tories.  Con- 
nolly was  held  a  prisoner  until  1781,  when  he  succeeded  in  making 
his  escape  to  Canada.  After  his  arrival  in  Canada  he  plotted  a 
descent  upon  Pittsburg,  and  in  1782  conducted  a  force  which 
destroyed  Hannastown. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  353 


CHAPTER  XII. 

FIRST    CONSTITUTIONAL    CONVENTION DECLARES    UNITED    COLONIES 

FREE   AND   INDEPENDENT   STATES DECLARATION    OF   RIGHTS 

AND  CONSTITUTION  ADOPTED. 

In  conformity  with  the  requirements  of  an  ordinance  passed  by 
the  convention  held  at  Richmond  in  1775^  the  Committee  of  Safety 
for  Virginia  directed  that  the  people  of  each  of  the  counties  of  the 
province  elect  delegates  to  a  General  Convention  to  be  held  for 
the  purpose  of  organizing  a  constitutional  government.  The  dele- 
gates to  this  convention  were  chosen  in  the  same  manner  that  mem- 
bers  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  had  formerly  been  elected.  Fin- 
castle  County  sent  as  its  delegates  Arthur  Campbell  and  William 
Russell.  Though  the  settlements  in  the  Clinch  Valley  had  been 
started  less  than  ten  years  previous,  it  seems  that  this  great  valley 
had  already  attained  sufficient  importance  and  population  to  have 
one  of  its  first  settlers  represent  Fincastle  County  in  the  convention 
that  organized  the  government  of  the  State  of  Virginia. 

The  convention  assembled  in  the  capitol  at  Williamsburg  the  6th 
day  of  May,  1776.  On  the  same  day  the  House  of  Burgesses,  elected 
under  the  royal  government,  also  met  at  the  capitol,  but  concluded 
that  it  had  no  legal  existence,  as  the  royal  government  had  been 
overthrown.  The  General  Convention  was  organized  by  electing 
Edmund  Pendleton,  president,  and  John  Tazewell,  clerk  of  the  body. 
On  the  15th  of  May,  the  convention  instructed  their  delegates  in 
Congress  to  declare  the  United  Colonies  free  and  independent  States. 
The  instructions  were  given  by  the  adoption  of  a  resolution,  which 
is  as  follows: 

"That  the  delegates  appointed  to  represent  this  colony  in  Gen- 
eral Congress,  be  instructed  to  propose  to  that  respectable  body, 
to  declare  the  united  colonies  free  and  independent  States,  absolved 
from  all  allegiance  to,  or  dependence  on  the  crown  or  parliament  of 
Great  Britain;  and  that  they  give  the  assent  of  this  colony  to  such 
declaration,  and  whatever  measures  may  be  thought  necessary  by 
Congress  for  forming  alliances,  and  a  confederation  of  the  colonies, 
at  such  time,  and  in, the  manner  that  to  them  shall  seem  best;  pro- 
vided, that  the  power  of  forming  governments  for,  and  the  regula- 
T.H. — 23 


354  History  of  Tazewell  County 

tions  of  the  internal  concerns  of  each  colony^  be  left  to  the  colonial 
legislatures." 

The  convention  on  the  same  day  this  resolution  was  adopted  also 
appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  a  DECLARATION  OF 
RIGHTS,  and  such  a  PLAN  OF  GOVERNMENT  "as  would  be 
most  likely  to  maintain  peace  and  order  in  the  colony  and  secure 
substantial  and  equal  liberty  to  the  people."  George  Mason  was 
added  to  the  committee  on  the  18th,  and  on  the  27th  of  May,  1776, 
Archibald  Gary,  chairman  of  the  committee,  reported  the  Bill  of 
Rights  to  the  convention,  and  it  was  ordered  to  be  printed  for  perusal 
by  the  members. 

After  it  had  been  printed,  the  bill  was  considered  in  the  com- 
mittee of  the  whole  on  the  29th  of  May  and  the  3rd,  4th,  5th  and 
10th  of  June.  It  was  again  reported  to  the  House  with  amendments 
on  the  1 1th,  the  amendments  were  agreed  to,  and  it  was  ordered  that 
the  declaration,  as  amended,  be  fairly  transcribed  and  read  a  third 
time.  This  was  done;  and  on  the  12th  of  June  the  declaration  had 
its  third  reading  and  was  unanimously  adopted  without  debate.  It 
has  ever  since  been  considered  and  retained  as  the  most  vital  part 
of  the  organic  law  of  Virginia. 

The  fathers  were  confronted  with  grave  issues  when  they  essayed 
to  make  a  democratic  plan  of  government  for  themselves  and  their 
eager  countrymen.  They  had  to  cut  loose  from  the  monarchical 
forms  luider  which  they  and  their  ancestors  had  lived  for  centuries 
and  sever  the  ties  that  bound  them  to  kindred  and  mother  country. 
But,  inspired  with  the  spirit  of  freedom  that  had  been  living  and 
growing  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  on  Virginia  soil,  they 
developed  a  plan  of  government  that  will  stand  unsurpassed  in 
excellence  as  long  as  civilization  endures. 

It  is  admitted  by  all  persons,  who  have  an  intelligent  knowledge 
of  its  provisions,  that  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights  is  the  most  com- 
prehensive, compact  and  perfect  charter  of  human  liberty  and  popu- 
lar government  that  has  ever  been  written.  Constitutions  may  have 
to  be  made  elastic  and  may  need  frequent  revisions ;  but  the  Virginia 
Bill  of  Rights  requires  nothing  more  than  honest  interpretation  and 
application  to  insure  for  those  j^ersons  who  desire  to  live  under  its 
aegis  the  purest  and  best  form  of  democratic  government.  Its  funda- 
mental principles  were  in  perfect  accord  with  the  aspirations  and 


and  Southwest  Virginia  355 

purposes  that  influenced  the  Tazewell  pioneers  to  seek  this  beautiful 
but  wild  and  isolated  region  for  rearing  their  families. 

Immediately  after  the  adoption  of  the  Bill  of  Rights  the  conven- 
tion proceeded  to  frame  a  constitution  for  the  new  State  of  Virginia. 
The  constitution  was  proclaimed  on  the  29th  of  June;  and  the 
authority  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  which  had  been  conducting 
the  affairs  of  the  colony  for  a  year,  was  vacated.  Then  the  conven- 
tion proceeded  to  organize  the  civil  department  of  the  government 
of  the  Commonwealth  as  follows : 

"Patrick  Henry,  Esq.,  governor.  John  Page,  Dudley  Digges, 
John  Tayloe,  John  Blair,  Benjamin  Harx-ison  of  Berkeley,  Bartho- 
lomew Uandridge,  Charles  Carter  of  Shirley,  and  Benjamin  Harri- 
son ■  of  Brandon,  counsellors  of  state.  Thomas  Whiting,  John 
Hutchins,  Champion  Travis,  Thomas  Newton,  Jun.,  and  George 
Webb,  Esquires,  commissioners  of  admirality.  Thomas  Everard  and 
James  Cocke,  Esquires,  commissioners  for  settling  accounts. 
Edmund  Randolph,  Esq.,  attorney-general." 

Only  a  few  days  intervened  between  the  adoption  of  the  Virginia 
Bill  of  Rights  by  the  Virginia  Convention  and  the  adoption  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  by  the  Continental  Congress.  That 
wonderful  document,  which  declared  all  the  American  colonies  were 
free  of  British  misrule,  was  drafted  by  Virginia's  greatest  citizen, 
Thomas  Jefferson,  and  on  lines  that  correspond  with  the  resolu- 
tions of  the  Virginia  Convention.  The  Declaration  of  Independence 
was  adopted  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  was  proclaimed  the  8th,  and 
as  promptly  as  possible  read  to  each  Division  of  the  Continental 
army,  and  transmitted  to  governing  authorities  of  each  of  the  col- 
onies. On  the  29th  of  July  it  was  proclaimed  at  the  capitol,  the 
court  house,  and  the  palace  at  Williamsburg.  The  proclamation  was 
heard  with  joy  by  the  people  and  was  saluted  with  the  firing  of 
cannon  and  musketry. 

After  Virginia  became  an  independent  government,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  reorganize  the  civil  government  of  Fincastle  Coimty.  The 
first  county  court  under  the  State  Constitution  was  held  at  the  Lead 
Mines  on  the  3rd  of  September,  1776,  with  the  following  members 
of  the  court  in  attendance:  William  Preston,  James  McGavock, 
Arthur  Campbell,  John  Montgomery,  and  James  McCorkle. 

The  court  appointed  William  Preston  sheriff  and  county  lieu- 


356  History  of  Tazewell  County 

tenant;  William  Sayers,  deputy  sheriff;  and  Stephen  Trigg,  deputy 
clerk. 

FRONTIERS  ATTACKED  BY  INDIANS KENTUCKY,  WASHINGTON  AND 

MONTGOMERY  COUNTIES  FORMED. 

While  the  Virginia  Convention  was  in  session  at  Williamsburg, 
the  fiendish  scheme  orignated  by  Dunmore,  and  managed  by  Con- 
nolly until  he  was  captured  at  Hagerstown,  for  uniting  the  North- 
western and  Southern  Indians  with  the  Tories  to  kill  and  plunder 
the  patriots  on  the  western  frontier,  was  being  perfected  by  the 
agents  of  Great  Britain.  As  previously  stated,  the  last  official  act 
of  Dunmore  as  governor  of  Virginia  was  to  order  the  withdrawal  of 
the  garrison  from  Fort  Blair  at  the  mouth  of  Kanawha  River.  This 
left  the  entire  frontier  of  Virginia  bordering  on  the  Ohio  without  any 
military  post,  and  left  it  wide  open  to  invasion  by  the  Indians.  As 
soon  as  the  General  Assembly,  elected  under  the  Virginia  Constitu- 
tion, met  at  the  capitol  the  Legislature  re-established  the  garrison  at 
Fort  Blair,  and  had  another  stockade  fort  built  a  short  distance  up 
the  river.  The  new  fort  was  named  Fort  Randolph,  and  a  regular 
garrison  was  stationed  there,  with  Captain  Arbuckle  in  command. 
From  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  on  down  the  Ohio  as  far  as  the 
Virginia  territory  extended  there  wei*e  no  stations  along  the  river. 
The  Sandy  Valley  was  unguarded  from  the  Ohio  to  the  headwaters 
of  the  three  principal  tributaries  of  Sandy  River,  all  of  which  had 
their  source  in  the  territory  afterwards  formed  into  Tazewell  County. 
So,  the  Upper  Clinch  Valley  and  Bluestone  settlements  were  left 
exposed,  as  tliey  had  been  in  1774,  to  incursions  by  the  Shawnees 
and  other  tribes  in  Ohio. 

About  the  time  that  Virginia  was  erected  into  an  independent 
democratic  government,  in  July,  1776,  the  Delaware,  Shawnee  and 
Mingo  chiefs  gathered  at  Fort  Pitt  and  solemnly  declared  that  they 
would  remain  neutral  in  the  conflict  that  had  begun  between  the 
Americans  and  Great  Britain.  The  Iroquois  had  representatives  at 
the  council,  and,  after  declaring  for  neutrality,  asserted  that  the 
tribes  of  that  nation  would  not  allow  either  the  Americans  or  the 
British  to  march  their  armies  over  or  through  the  territory  of  the 
Six  Nations.  They  urged  the  Shawnees  and  Delawares  to  adopt  the 
same  policy  toward  the  belligerents.  This  action  of  the  Indians,  in 
proclaiming  neutrality,  stimulated  the  agents  of  the  British  Govern- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  357 

ment  to  gi'eater  effort  for  securing  the  assistance  of  the  red  men  to 
exterminate  the  frontier  settlers  or  drive  them  from  their  homes. 

Henry  Hamilton,  who  was  the  Britisli  lieutenant  governor  for 
tlie  northwestern  territory,  was  selected  by  his  government  to  seduce 
the  Indians  from  their  pledged  neutrality.  He  w'as  a  bold  and 
unscrupulous  man,  and  well  fitted  for  the  execution  of  the  wicked 
purposes  of  the  British  Government.  His  influence  with  the  Indians 
was  on  a  plane  with  his  unscrupulous  character,  and  he  succeeded  in 
enlisting  the  support  of  most  of  the  Northwestern  Indians  on  the 
side  of  the  British.  In  the  fall  of  1776,  Hamilton  summoned  the 
Northwestern  tribes  to  meet  him  in  councils  at  Detroit.  The  tribes 
of  that  region  were  strongly  represented  at  the  councils;  and  the 
Iroquois,  who  had  abandoned  their  position  of  neutrality,  sent 
ambassadors  to  urge  the  Northwestern  Indians  to  compose  their 
differences,  and  unite  with  the  Six  Nations  in  their  support  of  the 
British  against  the  Americans.  The  fiendish  Hamilton  made  free 
use  of  presents  and  "fire  water"  to  excite  the  Indians  into  acquies- 
cence ;  and  succeeded  only  too  well  in  his  brutal  designs.  By  direc- 
tion of  the  British  authorities,  he  promised  the  savages  that  they 
should  be  paid  a  liberal  price  for  every  American  scalp  they  took 
and  delivered  to  him  or  other  agents  of  his  government,  the  prices 
being  graduated  and  fixed  for  the  scalps  of  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren. In  some  instances  fifty  dollars  was  the  price  paid  for  a  scalp ; 
and  one  cunning  Indian  divided  a  large  scalp  into  two  parts,  receiv- 
ing fifty  dollars  for  each  part.  Roosevelt,  in  "Winning  of  the  West," 
speaking  of  Hamilton  and  his  beastly  associates,  says: 

"These  were  hardened,  embittered  men  who  paid  for  the  zeal 
of  their  Indian  allies  accordingly  as  they  received  tangible  proof 
thereof;  in  other  words,  they  hired  them  to  murder  non-combatants 
as  well  as  soldiers,  and  paid  for  each  life,  of  any  sort,  that  was 
taken.  The  fault  lay  primarily  with  the  British  Government,  and 
with  its  advisers  who,  like  Hamilton,  advocated  the  employment  of 
the  savages.  They  thereby  became  participants  in  the  crimes  com- 
mitted; and  it  was  idle  folly  for  them  to  prate  about  having  bidden 
the  savages  be  merciful.  *  *  *  Making  all  allowance  for  the 
strait  in  which  the  British  found  themselves,  and  admitting  that 
much  can  be  said  against  their  accusers,  the  fact  remains  that  they 
urged  on  hordes  of  savages  to  slaughter  men,  women,  and  children 


358  History  of  Tazewell  County 

along  the  entire  frontier;  and  for  this  there  must  ever  rest  a  dark 
stain  on  their  national  history." 

Having  won  the  Indians  to  the  support  of  Great  Britain^  Hamil- 
ton began  to  make  preparations  for  attacking  the  frontiers  the  fol- 
lowing spring.  He  organized  a  company  of  white  men,  which  was 
made  up  of  French,  British,  and  Tories  who  had  gathered  at  Detroit. 
Three  members  of  the  band  were  the  despised  renegades,  Alexander 
McKee,  Matthew  Elliott,  and  Simon  Girty.  These  infamous  white 
men  were  engaged  to  lead  the  savages  in  the  campaigti  designed 
to  exterminate  the  white  settlers  on  the  borders.  Hamilton  had  been 
ordered  by  his  superior  officers  to  execute  the  plans  agreed  upon 
by  General  Howe  and  Dr.  John  Connolly  the  preceding  spring,  that 
is,  to  attack  the  frontier  settlements  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania, 
destroy  the  crops  of  the  settlers,  burn  their  houses,  and  kill  the 
inhabitants,  regardless  of  age  or  sex,  or  drive  them  east  of  the 
Alleghanies.  Another  pledge  was  made  the  Indians  to  induce  them 
to  give  their  earnest  support  to  the  British.  Hamilton  was  ordered 
to  and  did  promise  them  that  they  would  not  only  be  paid  liberally 
for  the  scalps  they  took,  but  that  they  would  be  given  back  their 
former  hunting  grounds,  from  which  the  white  settlers  were  to  be 
ej  ected. 

Maddened  with  liquor  and  ensnared  by  the  liberal  gifts  of  the 
English  agents,  the  poor,  ignorant  savages  indulged  the  hope  that 
the  British  would  restore  to  them  their  hunting  grounds  south  and 
east  of  the  Ohio.  Of  course  "Perfidious  Albion"  would  never,  if  it 
could  have  done  so,  made  good  this  pledge  to  the  red  men.  In 
October,  1773,  the  Privy  Council  had  made  a  grant  to  Thomas  Wal- 
pole  and  a  company  of  Englishmen  for  all  the  territory  belonging 
to  Virginia  situated  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  Walpole  and  his 
speculative  associates  were  to  establish  a  new  province  to  be  called 
Vandalia,  with  the  seat  of  government  located  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Kanawha  on  the  Point  Pleasant  battle  groimd. 

Evidently,  it  was  the  intention  of  the  British  Government  to 
force  the  settlers  from  the  regions  west  of  the  Alleghany  mountains ; 
and,  after  bringing  the  colonies  into  subjection,  turn  over  to  Thomas 
Walpole  and  his  associate  Englishmen  the  extensive  territory  granted 
them  by  the  Privy  Council.  The  Revolutionary  War  first  obstructed 
and  then  defeated  Walpole's  scheme.      If  the  war  had  been  won 


and  Southwest  Virginia  359 

by  Great  Britain,  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the  Clinch  Valley,  who 
had  obtained  no  legal  titles  to  their  lands,  would  have  been  evicted 
from  their  holdings  or  forced  to  pay  a  price  therefor  to  the  English 
speculators. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1777,  Hamilton  collected  his  motley  forces 
and  dispatched  them  on  their  mission  of  bloodshed  and  devastation. 
War  parties  of  Indians,  accompanied  by  white  leaders,  crossed  the 
Ohio,  and  began  to  make  attacks  upon  the  border  settlements  from 
the  Monongahela  and  Kanawha  to  the  Kentucky  River.  Scouting 
parties  sent  out  by  the  whites  gave  due  warning  of  the  approach 
of  the  enemy.  Though  greatly  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  their  fami- 
lies, the  settlers  did  not  flee  from  their  threatened  homes,  but  made 
the  best  preparation  they  could  to  repel  the  attacks  of  the  Indians. 
The  Tazewell  pioneers  placed  their  families  in  the  neighborhood 
forts,  several  new  forts  were  built,  and  nearly  every  strong  log  cabin 
was  made  a  block-house  with  loop-holed  walls,  heavily  barred  doors, 
and  other  defensive  arrangements. 

The  savages  started  out  by  Hamilton  were  fully  supplied  with 
guns,  tomahawks,  and  scalping  knives,  and  an  abundance  of  powder 
and  lead.  These  supplies  had  been  sent  from  the  British  arsenals  in 
Canada;  and,  thus  equipped,  the  Indians  made  the  year  1777  one 
full  of  horrors  for  the  backwoodsmen.     Roosevelt  says: 

"The  captured  women  and  little  ones  were  driven  off  to  the  far 
interior.  The  weak  among  them,  the  young  children,  and  the  women 
heavy  with  child  were  tomahawked  and  scalped  as  soon  as  their 
steps  faltered.  The  able-bodied,  who  could  stand  the  terrible 
fatigue,  and  reached  their  journey's  end,  suffered  various  fates. 
Some  were  burned  at  the  stake,  others  were  sold  to  the  French  or 
British  traders,  and  long  afterwards  made  their  escape,  or  were 
ransomed  by  their  relatives.  Still  others  were  kept  in  the  Indian 
camps,  the  women  becoming  the  slaves  or  wives  of  the  warriors, 
while  the  children  were  adopted  into  the  tribe,  and  grew  up  pre- 
cisely like  their  little  red-skirmed  playmates." 

This,  I  believe,  is  the  first  recorded  instance  of  the  dishonouring 
of  captive  white  women  by  the  Indians.  The  awful  fate  that  befell 
these  white  women  was  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  bestial  influence  exer- 
cised over  the  savages  by  their  vicious  white  leaders — the  British, 


360  History  of  Tazewell  County 

French,  and  renegade  white  Americans — who  organized  and  led  the 
Indians  in  their  ferocious  attacks  upon  the  frontier  settlements. 

The  first  settlers  in  Tazewell  County  had  the  good  fortune  to 
escape  the  frightful  experiences  that  the  inhabitants  of  Kentucky 
and  the  region  east  of  the  Kanawha  had  to  pass  through  during  the 
year  1777.  There  was  but  one  invasion  of  the  Upper  Clinch  Valley 
during  that  year  by  the  Indians,  at  least,  Bickley  makes  no  mention 
of  but  one,  and  none  others  have  been  handed  down  by  tradition. 
This  escape  of  our  pioneer  ancestors  from  massacres  was  largely  due 
to  the  rapid  colonization  of  Kentucky,  under  the  direction  of  Boone, 
Harrod,  Logan  and  others. 

The  Kentucky  settlements  were  so  near  to  the  Shawnees  and 
other  hostile  western  tribes,  and  the  hunting  grounds  in  that  region 
being  the  finest  on  the  continent,  that  it  was  the  easiest  and  most 
attractive  prize  the  Indians  would  win  under  their  contract  with  the 
British  Government.  Moreover,  the  heavy  and  rapid  emigration 
which  was  pressing  on  to  the  southern  banks  of  the  Ohio  gave  warnt- 
ing  to  the  Indians  that  the  white  men,  if  not  obstructed,  would  very 
soon  cross  the  Ohio  and  drive  tlie  red  men  beyond  the  Mississippi, 
or  into  Canada.  Consequently,  the  Indians  gave  their  first  and  most 
resolute  attention  to  winning  back  from  the  whites  the  magnificent 
Kentucky  region. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  361 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

KENTUCKY,    WASHINGTON,   AND   MONTGOMERY    COUNTIES    ARE    FORMED. 

The  permanent  settlers  in  Kentucky  had  increased  to  the  num- 
ber of  about  six  hundred  by  the  spring  of  1776,  and  they  became 
ambitious,  for  sound  reasons,  to  organize  their  settlements  into  a 
distinct  county.  They  were  completely  detached  from  the  Clinch 
Valley  and  Holston  settlements  in  Fincastle  County;  and  believed, 
or  knew,  they  had  no  representation  in  the  civil  government  of  either 
Fincastle  County  or  of  the  State  of  Virginia.  The  people  who  had 
refused  to  accept  or  recognize  Henderson's  Transylvania  govern- 
ment determined  to  elect  two  delegates  to  the  General  Assembly  of 
Virginia ;  and  send  a  petition  to  that  body,  asking  that  a  new  county 
be  formed,  to  be  called  Kentucky.  In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  an 
election,  which  continued  for  five  days,  was  held  at  Harrodsburg, 
in  June,  177G.  George  Rodgers  Clark,  who  was  then  abiding  at 
Harrodsburg,  and  Captain  John  Gabriel  Jones  were  elected  dele- 
gates to  the  General  Assembly.  Without  delay  Clark  and  his  col- 
league started  for  Williamsburg,  carrying  with  them  the  certificate 
of  their  election  and  the  petition  for  the  new  county. 

In  their  petition  the  Kentuckians  assailed  the  usurpations  of 
Henderson  and  his  company,  and  denounced  their  effort  to  establish 
Transylvania  as  a  government  independent  of  Virginia.  The  peti- 
tioners disputed  the  validity  of  the  purchase  made  by  Henderson  and 
his  associates  from  the  Cherokees.  They  declared  that  they  recog- 
nized the  fact  that  the  lands  they  occupied  belonged  to  Virginia 
territory,  and  that  they  were  justly  entitled  to  enjoy  the  privileges 
and  contribute  to  the  support  and  defence  of  the  State  Government. 

Upon  arrival  at  Williamsburg,  Clark  found  that  the  Legislature 
had  adjourned;  and  he  laid  the  petition  of  his  constituents  before 
Governor  Henry  and  the  Privy  Council.  He  requested  the  council  to 
furnish  the  Kentuckians  five  hundred  pounds  of  powder  to  be  used 
for  protecting  the  border  against  the  Indians.  At  first,  the  council 
declined  to  supply  the  powder,  but  later  granted  the  request. 

When  the  General  Assembly  convened  in  October,  Clark  and  his 
colleague.  Captain  John  Gabriel  Jones,  were  present  and  asked  to  be 
seated,  and  presented  the  petition  of  the  Kentucky  settlers  to  the 


362  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Assembly.  Clark  and  his  colleague  were  very  properly  denied  the 
privilege  or  right  to  sit  as  members  of  the  body,  but  the  petition  was 
received  and  referred  to  the  proper  committee.  At  the  same  time  the 
following  resolution  was  adopted: 

"Resolved,  That  the  inhabitants  of  the  western  part  of  Fincastle 
not  being  allowed  by  the  law  a  distinct  representation  in  the  General 
Assembly,  the  delegates  chosen  to  represent  them  in  this  House 
cannot  be  admitted.  At  the  same  time,  the  committee  are  of  opinion, 
that  the  said  inhabitants  ought  to  be  formed  into  a  distinct  county, 
in  order  to  entitle  them  to  such  representation,  and  other  benefits  of 
government." 

In  the  meantime  the  inhabitants  of  the  Clinch,  Holston  and 
New  River  valleys,  having  heard  of  the  plans  of  the  Kentuckians  to 
procure  for  themselves  a  separate  county,  prepared  and  forwarded 
petitions  to  the  General  Assembly,  praying  that  the  territory  of 
Fincastle  County  east  of  Kentucky  be  divided  into  two  distinct  coun- 
ties. The  petitions  of  the  Holston,  New  River,  and  Clinch  settlers 
were  presented  along  with  that  sent  from  Kentucky.  Henderson,  as 
the  representative  of  the  bogus  Transylvania  government,  attended 
the  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  vigorously  opposed  the 
formation  of  Kentucky  into  a  new  county.  And,  from  circumstances 
connected  with  the  legislation,  it  may  be  presumed  that  there  was 
opposition  on  the  part  of  leading  citizens  of  the  New  River  Valley 
to  the  division  into  two  counties  of  that  portion  of  Fincastle  situated 
east  of  Kentucky.  The  men  of  the  New  River  and  Reed  Creek  set- 
tlements had  previously  held  and  received  the  emoluments  of  the 
most  desirable  county  offices,  and  in  fact  had  dominated  the  affairs 
of  the  county.  Finally,  opposition  of  every  kind  was  overcome,  and 
on  the  7th  day  of  December,  1776,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an 
act  which  provided  for  the  division  of  Fincastle  County  into  three 
distinct  counties.     In  part,  the  act  is  as  follows: 

"Whereas,  from  the  great  extent  of  the  county  of  Fincastle,  many 
inconveniences  attend  the  more  distant  inhabitants  thereof,  on 
account  of  their  remote  situation  from  the  court  house  of  the  said 
county,  and  many  of  the  said  inhabitants  have  petitioned  this  present 
general  assembly  for  a  division  of  the  same: 

''Be  it  therefore  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Com- 
monwealth of  Virginia,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of 


and  Southwest  Virginia  363 

the  same.  That  from  and  after  the  last  day  of  December  next 
ensuing  the  said  county  of  Fincastle  shall  be  divided  into  three  coun- 
ties, that  is  to  say:  All  that  part  thereof  which  lies  to  the  south 
and  westward  of  a  line  beginning  on  the  Ohio  at  the  mouth  of  Great 
Sandy  creek,  and  running  up  the  same  and  the  main  or  north  easterly 
branch  thereof  to  the  Great  Laurel  Ridge  or  Cumberland  Mountain, 
thence  south  westerly  along  the  said  mountain  to  the  line  of  North 
Carolina,  shall  be  one  distinct  county,  and  called  and  known  by  the 
name  of  Kentucky ;  and  all  that  part  of  the  said  county  of  Fincastle 
included  in  the  lines  beginning  at  the  Cumberland  Mountain,  where 
the  line  of  Kentucky  county  intersects  the  North  Carolina  line, 
thence  east  along  the  said  North  Carolina  line  to  the  top  of  Iron 
Mountain,  thence  along  the  same  easterly  to  the  source  of  the  south- 
fork  of  Holstein  river,  thence  northwardly  along  the  highest  part  of 
the  high  lands,  ridges,  and  mountains,  that  divide  the  waters  of  the 
Tennessee  from  those  of  the  Great  Kanawha  to  the  most  easterly 
source  of  Clinch  river,  thence  westwardly  along  the  top  of  the  moim- 
tains  that  divide  the  waters  of  Clinch  river  from  those  of  the  Great 
Kanawha  and  Sandy  creek  to  the  line  of  Kentucky  county,  thence 
along  the  same  to  the  beginning,  shall  be  one  other  distinct  county, 
and  called  and  known  by  the  name  of  Washington;  and  all  the 
residue  of  the  said  county  of  Fincastle  shall  be  one  other  distinct 
county,  and  shall  be  called  and  known  by  the  name  of  Montgomery." 

The  act  also  provided  that  a  court  composed  of  justices  should 
be  held  in  each  of  the  counties  as  follows:  Kentucky,  at  Harrods- 
burg,  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  every  month :  Washington,  at  Black's 
fort  (now  Abingdon),  the  last  Tuesday  in  every  month:  Mont- 
gomery, at  Fort  Chiswell,  the  first  Tuesday  in  every  month." 

The  act  also  provided  a  suffrage  qualification  for  the  citizens  of 
the  three  counties  as  follows : 

"And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  every  free  white  man  who,  at 
the  time  of  elections  of  delegates  or  senators  for  the  said  several 
counties,  shall  have  been  for  one  year  preceding  in  possession  of 
twenty  five  acres  of  land  with  a  house  and  plantation  thereon,  or 
one  hundred  acres  without  a  house  and  plantation,  in  any  of  the  said 
counties,  and  having  right  to  an  estate  for  life  at  least  in  the  said 
land  in  his  own  right,  or  in  right  of  his  wife,  shall  have  a  vote,  or  be 
capable  of  being  chosen  a  representative  in  the  county  where  his 


364  History  of  Tazewell  County 

said  land  shall  lie,  although  no  legal  title  in  the  same  shall  have  been 
conveyed  to  such  possessers;  and  that  in  all  futui'e  elections  of 
senators,  the  said  counties  of  Montgomery,  Washington,  and  Ken- 
tucky, together  with  the  county  of  Botetourt,  shall  form  and  be  one 
district." 

At  the  time  this  act  was  passed  there  had  been  no  separa- 
tion of  the  Church  and  State  in  Virginia.  Hence  the  act  provided 
for  dividing  the  parish  of  Botetourt,  which  embraced  all  the  terri- 
tory in  the  then  county  of  Botetourt  and  the  three  new  counties,  into 
four  parishes,  to  be  called,  respectively,  Montgomery  parish,  Ken- 
tucky parish,  Washington  parish,  and  Botetourt  parish. 

Thomas  Jefferson  was  chairman  of  the  committee  to  which  the 
bill  creating  the  new  counties  was  referred.  He  was  then  recog- 
nized as  the  greatest  advocate  and  exponent  of  the  principles  of 
popular  government  living  in  Virginia,  as  he  was  later  to  be  acknowl- 
edged the  greatest  in  America.  No  doubt,  he  was  responsible  for 
the  peculiar  suffrage  qualifications  imposed  upon  the  men  who  were 
to  be  voters  in  the  counties  of  Kentucky,  Washington  and  Mont- 
gomery. The  evident  purpose  of  Mr.  Jefferson  and  his  associates 
was  to  extend  to  every  free  white  citizen  in  these  counties  the  right 
of  suffrage.  And  the  imposition  of  the  freeholder's  qualification  was 
merely  the  application  and  interpretation  of  that  part  of  the  Vir- 
ginia Bill  of  Rights  which  says:  "that  all  men,  having  sufficient  evi- 
dence of  permanent  common  interest  with,  and  attachment  to  the 
community,  have  the  right  of  suffrage." 

The  line,  as  established  by  the  act,  between  the  counties  of 
Washington  and  Montgomery  was  so  uncertain  as  to  location  that 
it  was  found  necessary  to  have  it  more  clearly  defined.  In  the  month 
of  May,  1777,  the  General  Assembly  amended  the  act  of  1776, 
changing  the  line  between  Washington  and  Montgomery  as  follows : 

"Beginning  at  a  ford  on  Holston  river,  next  above  Captain  John 
Campbell's,  at  the  Royal  Oak,  and  running  from  thence  a  due  south 
course  to  the  dividing  line  between  the  states  of  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina ;  and  from  the  ford  aforesaid  to  the  westerly  end  of  Morris' 
Knob,  about  three  miles  above  Maiden  Spring  on  Clinch,  and  from 
thence,  by  a  line  to  be  drawn  due  north,  until  it  shall  intersect  the 
waters  of  the  great  Sandy  river." 


and  Southwest  Virginia  365 

The  line  as  located  by  the  original  act  ran  through  the  present 
Tazewell  County  about  six  miles  east  of  the  town  of  Tazewell,  plac- 
ing the  greater  portion  of  the  present  Tazewell  County  in  Washing- 
ton County.  By  the  act  of  May,  1777,  the  line  was  located  about 
six  miles  west  of  the  town,  and  the  larger  part  of  the  territory  was 
in  Montgomery.  In  other  words,  all  the  country  west  of  the  line 
which  ran  by  Morris*  Knob  was  in  Washington,  while  all  east  of  that 
line  was  in  Montgomery. 

Even  after  the  new  line  was  created  by  the  General  Assembly, 
frequent  disputes  arose  between  citizens  of  Washington  and  Mont- 
gomery as  to  the  true  location  of  the  line.  In  the  spring  of  1782,  the 
county  courts  of  the  respective  counties  selected  Hugh  Fulton  to  run 
the  line.  Fulton  performed  the  work  promptly  and  made  a  report 
thereof  on  the  6th  of  May,  1782,  and  the  report  was  confirmed  by 
the  courts  of  the  two  counties.  The  courses,  distances,  and  so  forth, 
given  in  the  report,  are  as  follows : 

"Beginning  at  a  white  walnut  and  buckeye  at  the  ford  of  Hol- 
ston  next  above  the  Royal  Oak,  and  runneth  thence  —  N.  31  W. 
over  Brushy  mountain,  one  creek.  Walker's  mountain,  north  fork  of 
Holston,  Locust  cove.  Little  mountain.  Poor  Valley  creek,  Clinch 
mountain,  and  the  south  fork  of  Clinch  to  a  double  and  single  sugar 
tree  and  two  buckeye  saplings  on  Bare  grass  hill,  the  west  end  of 
Morris'  Knob,  fifteen  miles  and  three  quarters.  Thence  from  said 
knob  north  crossing  the  spurs  of  the  same,  and  Paint  Lick  mountain 
the  north  fork  of  Clinch  by  John  Hines'  plantation,  and  over  the 
river  ridge  by  James  Roark's  in  the  Baptist  Valley,  to  a  sugar  tree 
and  two  white  oaks  on  the  head  of  Sandy  five  miles,  one  quarter — 
twenty  poles. 

"The  beginning  at  said  walnut  and  buckeye  above  the  Royal  Oak, 
and  running  south,  crossing  the  middle  fork  of  Holston.  Campbell's 
mill  creek,  three  mountains,  the  south  fork  of  Holston  above  Jones' 
mill,  his  mill  creek,  four  mountains,  Fox  ci-eek  to  six  white  pines  on 
the  top  of  Iron  mountain  by  a  laurel  thicket,  eleven  miles,  three 
quarters  and  sixty  poles. 

"The  distance  of  said  line  from  the  head  of  Sandy  to  the  top 
of  the  Iron  mountain  is  thirty  three  miles. 

Executed  and  returned,  May  the  6th,  1783. 

Huffh  Fulton." 


366  History  of  Tazewell  County 

When  the  Revolutionary  War  broke  out  the  pioneer  settlers  of 
Clinch  Valley  were  in  such  a  perilous  situation,  on  account  of  the 
threatened  Indian  invasions,  that  they  could  give  no  immediate  sub- 
stantial aid  to  the  colonists  of  the  East  and  South  who  were  resisting 
the  British  armies.  All  the  vital  energy  of  the  sturdy  men  of  the 
Clinch  had  to  be  conserved  and  used  for  the  protection  of  their  own 
settlements.  In  the  previous  war,  that  of  1774,  they  had  to  prac- 
tically take  care  of  themselves ;  and  they  would  have  been  compelled 
to  endure  many  subsequent  outrages  from  the  Indians,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  crushing  defeat  they  helped  to  give  the  savages  at 
Point  Pleasant. 

The  Indians  had  been  previously  the  only  foes  encountered  by 
the  Tazewell  pioneers.  In  the  great  struggle  for  American  freedom, 
begun  in  1776,  our  ancestors  had  to  grapple  with  the  blood-thirsty 
savages  led  by  the  agents  and  officers  of  the  British  Government, 
the  government  for  which  the  Virginians  had  fought  so  nobly  in 
former  wars.  Not  a  man,  however,  who  was  living  in  the  Upper 
Clinch  Valley  faltered  in  devotion  to  the  cause  of  American  freedom. 
There  were  some  of  the  settlers  who  regretted  to  see  the  ties  that 
bound  tliem  to  kindred  and  the  mother  country  rudely  broken,  but 
there  were  no  Tories  here.  The  Scotch-Irish,  the  German  Hugue- 
nots, and  the  Englishmen  who  had  come  here  from  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland  and  Eastern  Virginia  had  rapidly  commingled  and  devel- 
oped into  true  Americans. 

Our  ancestors  were  so  busily  occupied  with  their  home-making 
pursuits  that  they  neglected  to  make  any  written  record  of  their 
performances  in  the  Revolution.  They  were  extending  their  clear- 
ings into  the  depths  of  the  forests,  were  enlarging  and  making  their 
houses  stronger,  were  building  new  forts,  and  block-houses,  and  get- 
ting ready  to  repel  apprehended  attacks  from  the  Indians.  We 
are  almost  entirely  dependent  upon  tradition  for  knowledge  of  what 
transpired  in  the  Clinch  Valley  during  the  progress  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. Dr.  Bickley  was  fortunate  enough  to  write  history  at  a  date 
when  a  few  of  the  sons  and  a  number  of  the  grandsons  of  the 
pioneers  were  still  living.  From  these  he  gathered  a  minimum  of 
valuable  information,  and,  possibly,  might  have  obtained  much  more, 
but  for  undue  haste  in  collecting  the  data  and  writing  his  book. 
Writing  of  this  intensely  interesting  period,  Bickley  says : 


and  Southwest  Virginia  367 

"Previous  to  1776^  the  settlers  were  engaged  in  erecting  suitable 
houses  to  protect  their  families  from  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather, 
as  well  as  to  render  them  more  secure  from  the  attacks  of  the 
Indians.  Their  lands  had  to  be  opened,  and,  consequently,  they 
were  much  in  the  forest.  As  there  was  an  abundance  of  game,  and 
few  domestic  animals,  their  meat  was  taken  mostly  from  tKe  forest; 
this  likewise  took  them  from  home.  They  were  few,  and  to  raise  a 
house,  or  roll  the  logs  from  a  field,  required  the  major  part  of  a 
settlement.  This  likewise  left  their  families  exposed ;  yet  such  work 
was  usually  executed  during  the  winter  months,  when  the  Indians 
did  not  visit  the  settlements.  To  give  further  protection  to  the 
families  of  the  settlers,  in  every  neighborhood  block-houses  were, 
as  soon  as  convenient,  erected,  to  which  the  families  could  repair 
in  time  of  necessity. 

"After  1776,  forts  and  stations  were  built,  as  it  became  neces- 
sary for  many  of  the  settlers  to  join  the  army.  In  these  forts,  and 
particularly  at  the  stations,  a  few  men  were  left  to  defend  them. 
But  the  extent  of  country  to  be  defended  was  so  great,  and  the 
stations  so  few,  that  there  was,  in  reality,  but  little  safety  affordec^ 
to  the  families  of  the  settlers. 

"De  Hass  has  given  correct  descriptions  of  block-houses,  forts, 
and  stations,  to  which  I  beg  to  refer  the  reader.  There  was  a  fort 
erected  by  William  Wynn,  a  strict  old  Quaker,  and  one  of  the  best 
of  men,  on  Wynn's  branch ;  another  at  Crab  orchard,  by  Thomas 
Witten,  and  one  at  Maiden  Spring,  by  Rees  Bowen — two  men  whose 
names  will  be  cherished  in  the  memories  of  the  people  of  Tazewell 
for  ages  to  come. 

"There  was  a  station  on  Linking  Shear  branch,  containing  a  few 
men  imder  the  command  of  Capt.  John  Preston,  of  Montgomery; 
another  on  Bluestone  creek,  in  command  of  Capt.  Robert  Crockett 
of  Wythe  county,  and  another  at  the  present  site  of  White  Sulphur 
springs,  in  command  Capt.  James  Taylor  of  Montgomery.  It  is 
also  said,  that  there  was  a  station  in  Burk's  Garden ;  I  imagine,  how- 
ever, that  it  was  not  constructed  by  order  of  the  Government. 

"The  following  persons,  citizens  of  the  county,  were  posted  in 
these  forts  and  stations,  viz : 

Bailey,  John  Burgess,  Edward 

Bailey,  James  Belcher,  Robert 

Belcher,  Joseph  Brewster,  Thomas 


368  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Chaffin,  Christopher  Maxwell,  John 

Connely,  James  Maxwell,  Thomas 

Crockett,  John  Marrs  ? 

Cottrell,  John  Peery,  James 

Evans,  John,  Sr.  Pruett,  John 

Evans,  John,  Jr.  Thompson,  Archibald 

Gilbert,  Joseph  Witten,  James 

Godfrey,  Absalom  Wynn,  Oliver 

Hall,  William  Wright,  Michael 

Lusk,  David  Ward,  John 

Lusk,  Samuel  Ward,  William 

Lusley,  Robert  Wright,  Hezekiah 
Martin,  James 

"These  men  were  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  act  as  cir- 
cumstances might  demand.  To  make  them  more  efficient,  spies  were 
employed  to  hang  upon  the  great  trails  leading  into  the  settlements 
from  the  Ohio.  Upon  discovering  the  least  sign  of  Indians,  they 
hurried  into  the  settlements  and  warned  the  people  to  hasten  to  the 
forts  or  stations,  as  the  case  might  be.  They  received  extra  wages 
for  their  services,  for  they  were  both  laborious  and  important,  and 
also  fraught  with  danger.  For  such  an  office  the  very  best  men  were 
chosen;  for  it  will  be  readily  seen,  that  a  single  faithless  spy,  might 
have  permitted  the  Indians  to  pass  unobserved,  and  committed  much 
havoc  among  the  people,  before  they  could  have  prepared  for 
defense.  But  it  does  not  appear  that  any  "spy"  failed  to  give  the 
alarm  when  possible  to  do  so.  They  always  went  two  together,  and 
frequently  remained  out  several  weeks  upon  a  scout.  Great  caution 
was  necessary  to  prevent  the  Indians  from  discovering  them,  hence 
their  beds  were  usually  of  leaves,  in  some  thicket  commanding  a  view 
of  the  war-path.  Wet  or  dry,  day  or  night,  these  men  were  ever 
on  the  lookout.  The  following  persons  were  chosen  from  the  pre- 
ceding list,  to  act  as  spies,  viz : 

Burgess,  Edward  Maxwell,  John 

Bailey,  James  Martin,  James 

Bailey,  John  Wynn,  Oliver 

Crockett,  John  Witten,  James 

"The  last  of  whom,  was  one  of  the  most  sagacious  and  successful 
spies  to  be  found  anywhere  on  the  frontier.     His  name  is  yet  as 


and  Southwest  Virginia  369 

familiar  with  the  people,  as  if  he  had  lived  and  occupied  a  place 
among  them  but  a  day  ago. 

"Such  as  were  too  old  to  bear  arms  in  the  government  service, 
usually  guarded  the  women,  children,  and  slaves,  while  cultivating 
tlie  farms.  Tazewell  had  but  a  small  population  at  this  time,  yet 
from  the  number  engaged  in  the  regular  service,  we  should  be  led 
to  think  otherwise. 

"It  is  a  little  strange  that  the  frontiers  should  have  furnished  so 
many  men  for  the  army,  when  their  absence  so  greatly  exposed  their 
families.  But  when  we  reflect  that  no  people  felt  the  horrors  of  war 
more  sensibly  than  they  did,  and  that  no  people  are  readier  to  serve 
the  country  in  the  day  when  aid  is  needed,  than  those  of  mountainous 
regions,  we  shall  at  once  have  an  explanation  to  their  desire,  and 
consequent  assistance,  in  bringing  the  war  to  a  close.  Beside,  the 
people  of  Tazewell  have  ever  been  foremost  in  defending  the  coun- 
try ;  showing  at  once  that  determination  to  be  free,  which  so  emi- 
nently characterizes  the  people  of  mountainous  districts." 


T.H. — 24 


370  History  of  Tazewell  County 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Clark's  expedition  to  Illinois,  and  battle  of  king's  mountain. 

Another  event  of  great  moment  to  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Taze- 
well occurred  in  1778.  It  was  the  invasion  and  conquering  of  the 
Illinois  country  by  George  Rodgers  Clark  with  his  small  but  intrepid 
army  of  Virginia  frontiersmen.  As  hereinbefore  related  Clark  had 
settled  in  Kentucky,  and  was  one  of  the  two  delegates  elected  to 
represent  that  country  in  the  Virginia  General  Assembly  before  it 
was  erected  into  a  county.  After  his  return  to  Kentucky  from  Wil- 
liamsburg in  1777  he  rendered  valuable  assistance  to  Boone,  Harrod, 
Floyd,  Logan,  and  the  other  settlers  in  their  bloody  struggles  with 
the  large  Indian  bands  sent  by  Hamilton  to  drive  the  Virginians 
from  Kentucky.  Clark  realized  that  the  Kentuckians  and  other  bor- 
der settlers  of  Virginia  would  have  no  rest  or  safety  until  the  North- 
western Indians  were  subdued  and  the  British  garrisons  in  that 
region  were  captured  or  driven  out.  The  country  beyond  the  Ohio 
was  occupied  by  numerous  large  and  wai-like  tribes ;  and  there  were 
a  number  of  military  posts  that  had  been  taken  from  France  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  and  were  still  held  by  the 
soldiers  of  Great  Britain.  From  these  posts  the  British  com- 
manders were  continually  equipping  and  sending  out  Indian  bands 
to  attack,  kill,  and  scalp  the  settlers  in  Kentucky  and  the  other 
border  settlements  of  Virginia. 

Clark  concluded  that  it  was  feasible  to  make  a  secret  invasion  of 
the  country  with  a  small  armed  force  and  capture  the  territory  which 
he  knew  belonged  to  Virginia.  Early  in  the  summer  of  1777  he  sent 
two  daring  j^oung  men  as  sjDies  to  Illinois  and  the  country  about 
Vincennes,  without  revealing  to  them  his  purposes,  but  to  find  out 
existing  conditions  there.  The  report  which  the  spies  brought  back 
was  to  the  effect,  that  the  French  population  in  the  villages  where 
the  British  had  their  military  posts  were  not  devoted  to  the  cause  of 
England,  and  were  taking  no  interest  in  the  struggle  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  American  colonies.  This  report  confirmed  Clark  in 
his  belief  that  the  Illinois  country  could  be  wrested  from  the  British 
by  a  small  army  of  resolute  border  men  under  his  command;  and 
he  determined  to  submit  his  plans  to  Governor  Henry  and  seek  his 


and  Southwest  Virginia  371 

official  support  in  the  undertaking.  To  this  end,  on  October  1st, 
1777,  Clai-k  started  from  Harrodsburg  to  Williamsburg.  He  was 
engaged  for  more  than  a  month  in  making  the  journey  to  the  capital, 
where  he  promptly  made  known  his  plans  to  Patrick  Henry,  who 
finally  gave  Clark  authority  to  raise  seven  companies  of  fifty  men 
each,  to  serve  as  militia,  and  to  be  gathered  from  the  counties  west 
of  the  Blue  Ridge.  The  governor  advanced  him  twelve  hundred 
pounds  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  expedition,  and  gave  him  an  order 
to  the  authorities  at  Pittsburg  to  furnish  him  adequate  supplies  and 
ammunition,  and  boats  to  transport  them,  and  such  men  as  he  might 
enlist  in  that  vicinity,  down  the  Ohio.  Thomas  Jefferson,  George 
Mason,  and  George  Wythe,  whom  Clark  met  at  Williamsburg, 
pledged  themselves  in  writing  to  use  their  influence  with  the  Vir^ 
ginia  General  Assembly  to  grant  each  man  who  went  with  the 
expedition  three  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  conquered  territory. 
Two  letters  of  instructions,  one  open,  and  the  other  sealed,  were 
given  Clark  by  Governor  Henry.  The  open  letter  ordered  Clark  to 
use  his  forces  to  relieve  the  Kentucky  settlers  from  the  distress  they 
were  in  on  account  of  the  frequent  attacks  made  upon  them  by  the 
Indians.  And  the  sealed,  or  secret  letter,  directed  him  to  invade 
and  conquer  the  Illinois  country  that  was  controlled  by  the  British. 
The  men  who  were  then  living  with  their  families  in  the  frontier 
counties  were  so  much  engrossed  with  their  home  and  community 
affairs  that  they  were  loth  to  engage  in  an  enterprise  that  would 
take  them  far  from  their  homes  for  a  long  period.  Consequently, 
much  trouble  was  experienced  by  Clark  when  he  tried  to  obtain  the 
quota  of  men  he  had  authority  to  enlist  for  the  expedition;  but  he 
succeeded  in  enlisting  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  in  the  coun- 
try about  Pittsburg,  and  determined  to  start  with  these  to  the  scene 
of  proposed  action.  In  May,  1778,  he  started  from  the  Redstone 
settlements  with  his  soldiers  and  a  number  of  adventurers  and  men 
with  families  who  wanted  to  settle  in  Kentucky,  They  used  as  trans- 
ports a  flotilla  of  flatboats,  and  rowed  and  drifted  down  the  Ohio 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky.  From  that  point  the  expeditionary 
force  floated  down  stream  to  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  arriving  at  that 
place  the  27th  of  May.  There  the  emigrants  separated  from  Clark 
and  his  men,  and  went  off  to  the  interior  settlements  of  Kentucky. 
A  considerable  number  of  the  Kentucky  settlers,  and  a  small  com- 
pany of  men  from  the  Holston  and  Clinch  settlements  joined  Clark 


372  History  of  Tazewell  County 

at  the  Falls.  By  previous  arrangement  four  companies  from  the 
Clinch  and  Holston  were  to  go  with  the  expedition;  but  only  one 
eompan}',  under  command  of  Captain  John  Montgomery,  arrived 
and  reported  for  service.  At  the  Falls,  Clark  for  the  first  time 
revealed  to  his  men  the  real  object  of  his  expedition.  Those  who 
had  accompanied  him  do\\Ti  the  Ohio,  and  the  Ketuckians,  readily 
agreed  to  take  part  in  the  hazardous  adventure ;  but  most  of  the 
men  from  the  Holston  and  Clinch  settlements  refused  to  go  on  the 
dangerous  and  necessarily  laborious  campaign.  They  left  the  camp 
in  the  night  time  and  started  to  return  to  their  homes.  Though 
Clark  had  misled  these  men,  who  had  gone  from  Washington  County, 
as  to  his  real  objective,  he  was  infuriated  by  what  he  considered 
a  desertion ;  and  sent  the  Kentuckians  wlio  liad  horses  in  pursuit 
of  the  men  who  had  started  for  their  homes,  directing  the  pursuers 
to  kill  all  who  refused  to  return  to  the  camp.  Only  a  few,  however, 
were  overtaken  and  they  returned  and  went  with  the  expedition. 
As  they  passed  through  the  Kentucky  settlements  on  their  homeward 
journey,  the  men  from  the  Clinch  and  Holston  were  treated  very 
rudely  and  cruelly  by  the  Kentuckians.  This  was  very  unjust  as 
they  had  been  deceived  as  to  the  nature  of  the  expedition,  and  were 
justified  in  refusing  to  engage  in  an  enterprise  they  had  not  enlisted 
for — one  that  would  take  them  so  far  from  their  homes  and  families 
for  a  long  time.  A  small  number  of  men  who  went  from  the  terri- 
tory which  now  composes  Tazewell  County  accompanied  Clark  on 
his  expedition,  and  were  with  him  when  he  captured  Kaskaskia  and 
Vincennes.  Those  who  were  known  to  liave  gone  from  Tazewell, 
were:  William  Peery,  Low  Brown,  John  Lasly,  and  Solomon  Strat- 
ton.  To  this  extent  the  pioneers  of  Tazewell  participated  in  the 
splendid  achievements  of  George  Rodgers  Clark,  who  drove  the 
British  from  the  Northwestern  territory  and  put  Virginia  in  posses- 
sion of  the  vast  domain  which  was  afterwards  generously  ceded  by 
our  State  to  the  United  States. 

On  the  24th  of  June  the  expeditionary  forces  went  aboard  their 
flatboats  at  the  Falls  and  continued  their  voyage  down  the  Ohio ; 
and  upon  arrival  at  a  small  island  near  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee 
River  went  into  camp  on  the  island.  Shortly  after  their  arrival  they 
were  joined  by  a  small  party  of  American  hunters  who  were  return- 
ing from  a  hunting  trip  in  the  Illinois  country.  The  hunters  gave 
Clark  valuable  information  about  the   defensive  conditions  of  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  373 

forts  at  Kaskaskia  and  Vincennes,  and  the  sentiment  of  the  French 
and  Creole  inhabitants  of  the  various  towns  about  the  British  posts. 
As  tliey  were  of  an  adventurous  disposition  and  in  sympathy  with 
the  revolting  American  colonists,  the  hunters  gladly  accepted 
Clark's  request  to  accompany  him  on  the  campaign.  Clark's  army 
of  about  two  hundred  men  left  the  island,  and  made  a  rapid  overland 
march  to  Kaskaskia,  where,  on  the  4th,  of  July,  a  surprise  night 
attack  was  made  upon  the  British  garrison.  The  fort  and  village 
were  captured  without  the  loss  of  a  man  by  the  Virginians.  Cha- 
hokia  and  Vincennes  in  due  time  were  also  surrendered  to  Clark,  and 
the  French  and  creole  inhabitants  promptly  took  the  oath  of  allegi- 
ance to  the  United  States. 

Hamilton  was  then  at  Detroit,  and  was  gathering  together  and 
equipping  large  numbers  of  Indians  for  other  attacks  upon  the 
border  settlements;  but  the  successful  invasion  of  Illinois  by  the 
Virginians  forced  the  beastly  British  officer  to  abandon  liis  mur- 
derous schemes.  He  was  astounded  by  the  daring,  and  successful 
venture  of  Clark  and  his  wonderful  small  army  of  fighting  back- 
woodsmen; and  began  immediately  to  make  jDreparation  for  recap- 
turing Vincennes,  and  expelling  the  Virginians  from  Illinois.  For 
this  enterprise  he  organized  a  force,  which  was  composed  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-seven  white  men  and  sixty  Indians.  With  an 
ample  supply  of  arms,  ammunition,  and  other  supplies,  Hamilton 
started  with  his  expedition  to  Vincennes,  and  reached  that  place 
on  the  17th  of  December,  Captain  Leonard  Helm  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  fort  and  his  garrison  was  made  up  of  two  or  three 
Americans  and  a  number  of  creole  militia.  At  the  approach  of  the 
British  the  treacherous  Creoles  deserted,  leaving  Helm  with  no  sup- 
port but  the  few  faithful  Americans,  and  he  was  compelled  to  sur- 
render the  fort. 

Francis  Vigo,  a  trader  from  St.  Louis  and  an  Italian  by  birth, 
had  been  imprisoned  and  cruelly  treated  by  Hamilton  while  Vigo 
was  on  a  visit  to  Vincennes.  When  he  was  released  he  returned  to 
St.  Louis,  and  as  quickly  as  possible  went  to  Kaskaskia  and  gave 
Clark  such  information  as  caused  him  to  take  immediate  steps  for 
marching  against  Vincennes.  It  was  midwinter,  and  it  seemed 
impossible  for  men  to  march  on  foot  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  through  an  uninhabited  region,  where  a  great  part  of  the 
ground  was  lowlands  and  at  the  time  was  flooded  b}^  heavy  freshets. 


374  History  of  Tazewell  County 

But  the  fearless  Clark  determined  to  surmount  all  difficulties  and 
forestall  Hamilton's  proposed  campaign  in  the  spring.  On  the  7th 
of  February^  1779,  Clark  began  his  march  to  Vincennes  with  one 
hundred  and  seventy  men,  part  of  whom  were  young  French  Creoles 
who  had  remained  faithful  to  the  American  cause.  Clark's  march 
to  Vincennes  has  been  related  both  in  history  and  romance  as  one 
of  the  marvels  of  the  military  world. 

Clark  came  in  sight  of  his  desired  goal  on  the  afternoon  of  tne 
23rd,  of  February,  having  made  the  march  of  two  hundred  and  forty 
miles  in  sixteen  days.  He  sent  a  messenger,  a  Creole  whom  he  had 
captured,  to  notify  the  French  inhabitants,  and  also  Hamilton,  that 
he  was  going  to  attack  the  place.  The  people  who  were  friendly 
to  the  Americans  were  requested  to  remain  in  their  houses  where 
they  would  be  in  no  danger ;  and  the  friends  of  the  British  were  told 
to  join  Hamilton  in  the  fort  "and  fight  like  men."  At  sundown  he 
marched  against  the  town  and  at  seven  o'clock  entered  its  limits. 
During  the  night  he  had  his  men  throw  up  intrenchments  within 
rifle-shot  distance  of  the  fort.  At  sunrise  on  the  24th  his  riflemen 
began  to  pour  a  well  directed  fire  into  the  loop-holes,  and  the  two 
small  cannon  the  British  were  using  were  soon  silenced  by  the  keen- 
eyed  Virginia  marksmen.  Before  noon,  Clark  demanded  a  surrender 
of  the  fort,  but  Hamilton  haughtily  refused  to  yield.  In  the  after- 
noon a  flag  of  truce  was  sent  out  with  the  request  for  an  interview 
between  Hamilton  and  Clark,  which  resulted  in  the  surrender  of  the 
garrison  of  seventy-one  men.  Clark  and  his  men  hated  Hamilton 
intensely,  and  spoke  of  him  as  the  "hair-buyer  general,"  alluding 
to  his  payments  of  large  sums  to  Indians  for  the  scalps  they  brought 
in  from  the  border  settlements.  When  Clark  assailed  him  for  his 
brutal  acts,  he  tried  to  escape  responsibility  by  saying  that  he  had 
merely  executed  the  orders  of  his  superior  officers  who  had  acted 
under  orders  given  them  by  the  British  Government.  Soon  after 
Vincennes  was  captured  sufficient  reinforcements  arrived  from  Vir- 
ginia to  enable  Clark  to  establish  permanent  garrisons  at  Vincennes, 
Kaskaskia,  and  Chahokia.  He  made  the  Indians  sue  for  peace,  or 
drove  them  from  the  country;  and  the  Revolution  came  to  an  end 
without  the  British  being  able  to  regain  control  of  the  Northwestern 
territory. 

The  permanent  settlement  of  Kentucky  had  been  of  great  value 
to  the  Clinch  Valley  settlements  by  attracting  the  attention  of  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  375 

hostile  Indians  away  from  this  region.  Clark's  occupation  of  the 
Illinois  country  was  in  the  same  way  very  serviceable  to  the  pioneers. 
It  prevented  any  further  incursions  of  the  Clinch  region  by  the 
savages  until  the  Hevolution  was  ended. 

BATTLE   OF  KINg's   MOUNTAIN. 

The  Battle  of  King's  Mountain  was  an  event  of  far-reaching 
importance  to  the  cause  of  American  Independence,  It  was  the 
privilege  of  a  gallant  band  of  the  Tazewll  pioneers  to  participate 
and  render  valiant  service  in  that  memorable  engagement,  which  is 
generally  conceded  to  have  turned  the  tide  in  favor  of  the  American 
patriots  in  their  prolonged  struggle  for  freedom  from  British  oppres- 
sion. 

Major  Patrick  Ferguson,  a  Scottish  soldier  of  distinguished 
lineage,  and  who  won  unenviable  distinction  by  many  cruel  deeds  in 
the  British  campaigns  in  New  York,  had,  for  a  year  previous  to  his 
defeat  and  death  at  King's  Mountain,  been  terrorizing  the  patriots 
of  the  Carolinas,  He  had  first  gone  to  the  Carolinas  with  General 
Henry  Clinton,  when  Clinton  made  his  expedition  against  Charleston 
at  the  close  of  the  year  1779.  At  that  time  Ferguson  held  the  title 
of  major  in  the  British  army;  but  just  previous  to  his  death  he  had 
been  promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant  colonel,  having  won  the 
favor  of  his  superior  officers  by  organizing  the  Tories  and  using  them 
effectively  against  the  Americans.  After  the  capture  of  Charleston, 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  began  at  once  to  form  plans  for  the  complete 
subjugation  of  the  Carolinas;  and  he  concluded  to  use  for  this 
accomplishment  a  large  Tory  element  that  he  knew  was  to  be  found 
in  the  two  Carolinas.  For  the  execution  of  his  designs  he  selected 
Major  Patrick  Ferguson  and  Major  George  Hanger,  both  of  whom 
were  intolerant  of  what  they  termed  disloyalty  to  the  King;  and 
these  kindred  wicked  spirits  had  already  in  numerous  instances 
shown  a  disposition  to  subject  American  citizens  to  inhuman  treat- 
ment. 

The  two  British  officers  were  clothed  with  both  civil  and  military 
authority,  and  were  directed  to  organize  local  civil  governments  as 
well  as  subjugate  the  rebels.  They  proceeded  to  organize  the  Tories 
into  militia  companies  and  regiments ;  and  these  were  sent  out  on 
predatory  excursions,  greatly  to  the  damage  and  discomfort  of  the 
patriotic  Americans.      The  barbarities   inflicted  upon  the  patriots, 


376  History  of  Tazewell  County 

who  refused  to  renew  their  allegiance  to  the  British  Government, 
attracted  the  attention  and  sympathy  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Watauga  and  Holston  settlements,  known  as  the  "over^mountain 
region,"  then  a  part  of  North  Carolina,  but  now  known  as  East 
Tennessee.  Colonel  John  Sevier,  who  lived  on  the  Watauga,  and 
Colonel  Isaac  Shelby,  residing  on  the  Holston,  received  urgent  calls 
for  assistance  from  their  fellow-patriots  who  lived  in  what  is  now 
Western  North  Carolina.  Colonel  Sevier  dispatched  a  part  of  his 
regiment  of  militia  vmder  command  of  Major  Charles  Robertson  to 
the  assistance  of  Colonel  Josei^h  McDowell,  who  with  a  small  force 
was  contending  against  the  large  number  of  Tories  that  had  flocked 
to  Ferguson's  standard.  A  few  days  after  Robertson  started  Colonel 
Shelby  followed  with  two  hundred  mounted  riflemen,  and  joined 
McDowell  near  the  Cherokee  ford  of  Broad  River  about  the  26th 
of  July,  1780.  Robertson  and  Shelby  co-operated  with  McDoM^ell 
and  other  of  the  Carolinians  through  the  month  of  August,  and 
participated  in  the  engagement  at  Cedar  Spring  on  the  24th  of  that 
month.  The  Tories  and  the  Liberty  men  both  claim  to  have  gotten 
the  better  of  the  fight ;  but,  from  the  accounts  given  by  the  respective 
sides  engaged,  it  was  a  victory  for  neither.  Shelby  and  Robertson, 
with  their  commands,  were  in  the  engagement  that  followed  soon 
after  at  Musgrove's  Mill,  where  the  mountaineer  Americans  won  a 
glorious  victory.  The  British  loss  in  the  battle  was  sixty-three 
killed,  about  ninety  wounded,  and  seventy  prisoners.  The  American 
casualty  list  showed  only  four  killed  and  nine  wounded.  The  term 
of  service  of  their  men  being  completed.  Colonel  Shelby  and  Major 
Robertson,  with  their  volunteers  from  the  Watauga  and  Holston, 
returned  to  their  homes  beyond  the  Alleghanies. 

In  a  very  short  while  after  he  returned  to  his  home  on  the  Hol- 
ston, Colonel  Shelby  received  a  message  which  constrained  him  to 
return  to  that  section  of  North  Carolina  where  he  had  so  recently 
been  fighting  the  Tory  followers  of  Ferguson.  The  men  from  the 
Watauga  and  Holston  had  greatly  enraged  Ferguson  by  the  part 
they  had  played  in  the  recent  campaign;  and  he  resolved  to  make 
them  cease  their  activities  against  his  forces  or  treat  them  as  traitors 
to  the  British  Crown.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Samuel  Phillips,  who 
belonged  to  Shelby's  command,  and  who  had  been  so  severely 
wounded  in  the  battle  at  Musgrove's  Mill  that  he  had  to  be  left  at 
Musgrove's  home,  had  been  made  a  prisoner  by  Ferguson's  men. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  377 

After  his  recovery,  Phillips  was  sent  aci-oss  the  mountains  to  tell 
Shelby  and  the  other  officers  of  the  Watauga  and  Holston  valleys, 
that  "if  they  did  not  desist  from  their  opposition  to  the  British  arras, 
he  (Ferguson)  would  march  his  army  over  the  mountains,  hang  their 
leaders,  and  lay  their  country  waste  with  fire  and  sword." 

Shelby,  who  was  the  first  to  receive  the  message  from  Ferguson, 
sent  by  Phillips,  went  immediately  to  Jonesboro  and  communicated 
it  to  Colonel  Sevier.  These  two  fearless  men  decided  to  raise  as 
speedily  as  possible  an  army  of  riflemen,  and  to  cross  the  mountains 
and  make  an  attack  upon  Ferguson  before  he  started  to  execute  his 
presumptions  threat.  At  that  time  Colonel  Charles  McDowell  and 
Colonel  Andrew  Hampton  were  camping  at  Colonel  John  Carter's 
in  the  Watauga  Valley.  They  had  been  forced  to  retire  before  Fei- 
guson's  large  forces  of  Tories  in  the  Upper  Catawba  Valley,  and 
cross  the  mountains  for  safety.  Sevier  undertook  to  enlist  the  sup- 
port of  McDowell  and  Hampton  and  their  men  for  the  enterprise, 
and  Shelby  engaged  to  procure  the  co-operation  of  Colonel  William 
Campbell,  of  Washington  County,  Virginia. 

While  Shelby  was  engaged  in  collecting  his  own  regiment  of 
Sullivan  County  men,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Colonel  William  Campbell, 
then  living  at  Aspinvale,  now  Seven  Mile  Ford,  in  Smyth  County, 
Virginia,  and  requested  him  to  raise  as  large  body  of  men  as  he  could, 
and  to  unite  with  him  and  Sevier  in  the  contemplated  movement 
against  Ferguson.  For  several  weeks  prior  to  the  receipt  of  Shelby's 
letter  Colonel  Campbell  had  been  actively  occupied  with  a  hundred 
and  fifty  men  in  suppressing  a  movement  of  the  Tories  to  seize  and 
destroy  the  works  and  stores  at  the  Lead  Mines,  situated  at  the  point 
where  the  county  seat  of  Fincastle  had  been  located,  now  in  Wythe 
County.  Large  quantities  of  lead  were  then  being  mined  and  smelted 
at  that  place  for  the  use  of  the  American  armies,  and  the  British 
authorities  were  exceedingly  anxious  to  have  the  plant  destroyed. 
Two  hundred  Tories  of  the  New  River  region  embi-aced  within  the 
present  Grayson  and  Carroll  counties,  Virginia,  and  the  present 
Alleghany  and  Surry  counties.  North  Carolina,  had  been  collected 
to  execute  the  plans  of  the  British  against  the  Lead  Mines.  They 
were  well  equipped  with  arms  and  ammunition,  and  were  commanded 
by  regularly  commissioned  British  officers.  The  agents  of  Great 
Britain  were  also  trying  to  get  the  Cherokee  Indians  to  make  an 
invasion  of  the  Watauga  and  Holston  settlements  in  conjunction 


378  History  of  Tazewell  County 

with  the  British  attack  upon  the  Lead  Mines.  Campbell  crossed  the 
mountains  with  his  Washington  County  militia  in  the  month  of 
August  and  found  a  large  band  of  the  Tories  at  a  place  then  known 
as  the  Big  Glades,  or  Round  Meadows,  in  North  Carolina  and  near 
the  line  of  Carroll  County,  Virginia.  Upon  the  approach  of  Campbell 
and  his  men  the  Tories  fled  and  dispersed  so  rapidly  that  only  one 
of  their  number  was  killed  by  the  men  from  the  Holston.  Because 
of  the  Tory  risings,  and  for  other,  possibly  personal,  reasons,  Camp- 
bell refused  to  join  Shelby  and  Sevier  in  the  proposed  expedition. 

On  account  of  the  threatened  invasion  of  the  Watauga  and  Hol- 
ston settlements  by  the  Cherokees,  both  Sevier  and  Shelby  were 
reluctant  to  take  all  of  their  men  for  service  against  Ferguson. 
This  induced  Shelby  to  send  a  second  urgent  written  appeal  to 
Colonel  William  Campbell,  in  which  he  informed  him  of  the  unhappy 
situation  in  which  he  and  Sevier  were  placed.  Shelby  also  wrote  to 
Colonel  Arthur  Campbell,  who  was  then  county  lieutenant  for 
Washington  County.  He  told  him  of  the  violent  threat  made  by 
Ferguson,  and  also  gave  him  information  about  McDowell's  and 
Hampton's  party,  who  had  been  driven  from  their  homes  and  fami- 
lies by  the  Tories.  This  last  appeal  had  the  desired  results;  and 
both  of  the  Campbells  announced  their  willingness  to  assist  in  the 
expedition.  Arthur  Campbell  afterwards  said:  "The  tale  of 
McDowell's  men  was  a  doleful  one,  and  tended  to  excite  the  resent- 
ment of  the  people,  who  of  late  had  become  inured  to  danger  by 
fighting  the  Indians,  and  who  had  an  utter  detestation  of  the  tyranny 
of  the  British  Government." 

A  conference  of  the  field  officers  of  Washington  County  was 
held;  and  it  was  agreed  that  one-half  of  the  militia  of  the  county 
should  be  called  out  and  mobilized  at  Wolf  Creek,  just  west  of  the 
present  town  of  Abingdon.  They  were  to  march  from  that  point 
and  join  the  forces  of  Shelby  and  Sevier  at  a  designated  place,  and 
to  go  with  them  on  the  expedition  against  Ferguson.  Colonel  Arthur 
Campbell,  in  his  capacity  of  county  lieutenant,  issued  a  call  for  the 
enrollment  of  companies  from  the  several  sections  of  the  county. 
Responding  to  this  call,  a  company  of  mounted  riflemen  was  organ- 
ized in  that  part  of  Clinch  Valley  within  the  present  limits  of  Taze- 
well. The  county  court  of  Washington  had,  on  the  20th  of  February, 
1777,  recommended  William  Bowen  for  a  captain  of  militia  on  the 
Clinch;   and  he   had   been   duly   commissioned   as    such.      He   was 


and  Southwest  Virginia  379 

placed  in  command  of  the  company  of  mounted  riflemen,  and  his 
brother,  Rees  Bowen,  was  made  lieutenant.  When  the  time  arrived 
for  assembling  at  Wolf  Creek,  William  Bowen  was  very  sick  from 
typhoid  fever;  and  the  company  had  to  march  with  Lieutenant  Rees 
Bowen  in  command.  Unfortunately  no  roll  of  the  company  has 
been  preserved ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  impossible  to  give  the  names  of 
all  the  men  from  Tazewell  who  were  in  the  engagement  at  King's 
Mountain.  Tradition  and  imperfect  records  show  that  David  Ward, 
Thomas  Maxwell,  James  Laird,  Thomas  Witten,  Jr.,  John  Skeggs, 
and  John  and  Thomas  Peery,  father  and  son,  were  members  of  the 
company  that  went  from  Tazewell  and  joined  Campbell  at  Wolf 
Creek. 

Two  hundred  men  started  on  the  22nd  of  September,  1780,  from 
Wolf  Creek ;  and  on  the  26th  reached  the  place  of  assembly  at  Syca- 
more Shoals,  at  the  foot  of  Yellow  Mountain,  on  the  Watauga,  three 
miles  below  the  present  town  of  Elizabethton,  Tennessee.  Shelby 
and  Sevier  were  there,  according  to  appointment,  each  with  a  regi- 
ment of  two  hundred  and  forty  men;  and  eagerly  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  Campbell  and  his  riflemen.  McDowell  had  been  at  the 
camp  with  his  men,  but  had  joyfully  gone  in  advance  across  the 
mountains  to  announce  to  his  people  the  coming  of  their  compatriots 
from  the  Watauga,  Holston  and  Clinch  settlements.  On  the  26th., 
just  as  the  army  was  getting  ready  to  take  up  its  march,  Colonel 
Arthur  Campell  arrived  with  two  hundred  more  Washington  County 
men.  This  substantial  reinforcement  gave  great  cheer  to  the  men 
who  had  previously  assembled.  Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  rein- 
forcements, the  gallant  little  army  broke  camp  and  started  out  on 
what  proved  to  be  a  victorious  expedition  against  the  insolent  Fer- 
guson and  his  Tory  forces.  Lyman  C.  Draper,  in  his  "Kings  Moun- 
tain And  Its  Heroes,"  thus  speaks  of  the  equipment  of  the  forces 
of  Campbell,  Shelby,  and  Sevier: 

"Mostly  armed  with  the  Deckard  rifle,  in  the  use  of  which  they 
were  expert  alike  against  the  Indians  and  beasts  of  the  forest,  they 
regarded  themselves  the  equals  of  Ferguson  and  his  practiced  rifle- 
men and  musketeers.  They  were  little  encumbered  with  baggage- 
each  with  a  blanket,  a  cup  by  his  side,  with  which  to  quench  his 
thirst  from  the  mountain  streams,  and  a  wallet  of  provisions,  the 
latter  principally  parched  corn  meal,  mixed,  as  it  generally  was. 


380  History  of  Tazewell  County 

with  maple  sugar,  making  a  very  agreeable  repast,  and  withal  full  of 
nourishment.  An  occasional  skillet  was  taken  along  for  a  mess,  in, 
which  to  warm  up  in  water  their  parched  meal,  and  cook  such  wild 
or  other  meat  as  fortune  should  throw  in  their  way.  The  horses,  of 
course,  had  to  pick  their  living,  and  were  hobbled  out  of  nights, 
to  keep  them  from  straying  away.  A  few  beeves  were  driven  along 
the  rear  for  subsistence,  but  imjDeding  the  rapidity  of  tlie  march, 
they  were  abandoned  after  the  first  day's  journey." 

Roosevelt,  who  made  careful  investigation  of  all  records  and  all 
the  early  historians  who  wrote  about  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain, 
in  his  "Winning  of  the  West,"  saj's  of  these  soldiers: 

"Their  fringed  and  tasseled  hunting  shirts  were  girded  in  by 
bead-worked  belts,  and  the  trappings  of  their  horses  were  stained 
red  and  yellow.  On  their  heads  they  wore  caps  of  coon-skin  or 
mink-skin,  with  the  tails  hanging  down,  or  else  felt  hats,  in  each  of 
which  was  thrust  a  buck's  tail  or  a  sprig  of  evergreen.  Every  man 
carried  a  small  bore  rifle,  a  tomahawk  and  a  scalping  knife.  A  very 
few  of  the  officers  had  swords,  and  there  was  not  a  bayonet  nor  a 
tent  in  the  army." 

The  march  across  the  Alleghany  and  Blue  Ridge  ranges  w-as 
accomplished  without  much  difficulty.  No  enemj'^  except  a  few 
bushwhacking  Tories  were  encountered.  Lieutenant  Larkin  Cleve- 
land, who  was  leading  the  advance,  was  shot  and  severely  wounded 
from  ambush  while  crossing  the  Catawba  on  the  30th  of  September. 
Sunday,  October  the  1st,  the  army  arrived  at  Quaker  Meadows; 
and  on  Monday,  the  2nd,  Colonel  William  Campbell  was  selected  by 
the  corps  commanders  as  commanding  officer  until  a  general  officer 
should  arrive  from  headquarters.  The  expedition  was  then  within 
sixteen  or  eighteen  miles  of  Gilbert  Town,  where  Ferguson  was  sup- 
posed to  be  camping  with  his  army;  and  Colonel  Campbell  resolved 
to  hunt  down  and  strike  the  enemy  immediately. 

In  the  meantime,  Ferguson  had  been  making  plundering  expedi- 
tions with  his  Tory  marauders  in  the  Upper  Catawba  Valley,  rob- 
bing and  terrorizing  the  American  patriots.  On  the  30th  of  Sep- 
tember he  was  encamped  at  Gilbert  Town,  when  Crawford  and 
Chambers,  who  had  deserted  from  Shelby's  command  while  they 
were  camping  on  the  top  of  Yellow  Mountain,  arrived  at  Ferguson's 
camp.       These    traitors    warned    the    British    commander    of    the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  381 

approach  of  the  "Back  Water  men/'  a  name  which  Ferguson  had 
given  them.  The  boastful  Scotchman  was  greatly  alarmed  when 
he  heard  of  the  coming  of  the  men  whom  he  had  threatened  to  hang, 
and  whose  homes  he  had  declared  he  would  devastate  with  fire  and 
sword.  On  the  1st  of  October,  Fei'guson  marched  his  force  to 
Denard's  Ford,  about  eight  miles  from  Gilbert  Town,  and  addressed 
the  following  scurrilous  and  libellous  appeal  to  the  Tories  of  North 
and  South  Carolina: 

"Denard's  Ford,  Broad  River, 
"Try on  County,  October  1,  1780. 

"Gentlemen: — Unless  you  wish  to  be  eat  up  by  an  inundation  of 
barbarians,  who  have  begun  by  murdering  an  unarmed  son  before  the 
aged  father,  and  afterwards  lopped  off  his  arms,  and  who  by  their 
shocking  cruelties  and  irregularities,  give  the  best  proof  of  their 
cowardice  and  want  of  discipline;  I  say,  if  you  wish  to  be  pinioned, 
robbed,  and  murdered,  and  see  your  wives  and  daughters,  in  four 
days,  abused  by  the  dregs  of  mankind — in  short,  if  you  wish  or 
deserve  to  live,  and  bear  the  name  of  men,  grasp  your  arms  in  a 
moment  and  run  to  camp. 

"The  Back  Water  men  have  crossed  the  mountains;  McDowell, 
Hampton,  Shelby  and  Cleveland  are  at  the  head,  so  that  you  know 
what  you  have  to  depend  upon.  If  you  choose  to  be  degraded  for- 
ever and  ever  by  a  set  of  mongrels,  say  so  at  once,  and  let  your 
women  turn  their  backs  upon  you,  and  look  out  for  real  men  to  pro- 
tect them. 

"Pat  Ferguson,  Major  71st,  Regiment." 

Historians,  with  one  accord,  have  denounced  the  accusations  of 
brutality  and  immorality  made  by  Ferguson  against  the  men  from 
the  Watauga,  Holston,  and  Clinch  regions  as  fabrications.  They 
were  falsehoods,  uttered  to  anger  the  brutal  Tories  and  arouse  them 
to  resistance  against  the  "Back  Water  men."  That  Ferguson  had  no 
regard  for  morality  and  decency  was  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  he 
had  two  mistresses  with  him  when  he  was  killed.  Draper  says: 
"both  fine  looking  young  women.  One  of  them,  known  as  Virginia 
Sal,  a  red  haired  lady,  it  is  related,  was  the  first  to  fall  in  the  battle, 
and  was  buried  in  the  same  grave  with  Ferguson,  as  some  assert; 
or  as  others  have  it,  beside  the  British  and  Tory  slain ;  while  th" 
other,  Virginia  Paul,  survived  the  action;  and  after  it  was  ov:.r,  vi-ah 


382  History  of  Tazewell  County 

seen  to  ride  around  the  camp  as  unconcerned  as  though  nothing 
unusual  had  happened."  She  was  subsequently  sent  to  Lord  Corn- 
wallis'  army. 

On  the  evening  of  the  6th  of  October,  Ferguson,  who  was  trying 
to  escape  an  encounter  with  the  "dregs  of  mankind,"  the  riflemen 
from  beyond  the  mountains,  who  were  determined  to  hunt  him  down 
and  make  him  and  his  Tory  ruffians  bite  the  dust,  took  his  station 
upon  the  eminence  which  has  since  been  famous  as  King's  Mountain. 
The  arrogant  Briton  thouglit  he  could  there  defy  and  hold  in  check 
the  Americans  until  he  was  reinforced  by  parties  of  Loyalists  and 
by  Tarleton.     Draper,  in  his  description  of  the  mountain,  says: 

"That  portion  of  it  where  the  action  was  fought,  has  little  or  no 
claim  to  the  distinction  of  a  mountain.  *  *  *  The  Pinacle,  is 
some  six  miles  distant  from  the  battle  ground.  That  portion  of  the 
oblong  hill  or  stony  ridge,  now  historically  famous,  is  in  York 
County,  South  Carolina,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of  the  North 
Carolina  line.  It  is  some  six  hundred  yards  long,  and  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  from  one  base  across  to  the  other;  or  from  sixty 
to  one  hundred  and  twenty  wide  on  the  top,  tapering  to  the  south — 
so  narrow  that  a  man  standing  on  it  may  be  shot  from  either  side. 
Its  summit  was  some  sixty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  surrounding 
country." 

The  same  evening  that  Ferguson  took  his  position  on  the  moun- 
tain the  Americans  were  at  Cowpens  with  about  eleven  hundred  men. 
There  they  learned  definitely  that  Ferguson  was  encamped  at  King's 
Mountain,  and  determined  to  press  forward  in  pursuit  of  the  foe. 
Colonel  Campbell  was  selected  by  a  council  of  the  field  officers  to 
continue  in  command  of  the  army,  and  nine  hundred  and  ten  well 
mounted  and  well  armed  men  were  chosen  from  the  entire  force  to 
march  at  once.  The  march  was  begun  at  nine  o'clock  at  night,  the 
Gth,  and  was  continued  all  night  through  a  drizzly  rain ;  but  the  men 
kept  their  guns  dry  by  wrapping  them  in  their  blankets.  After 
daylight  the  march  was  continued  through  the  rain  until  noon,  and 
the  sun  came  out  when  the  army  was  about  eight  miles  from  King's 
Mountain.  Two  Tories  were  captured  and  they  were  forced  to  pilot 
the  mountaineers  to  where  Ferguson  was  encamped.  When  the-y 
got  within  a  mile  of  the  enemy,  they  met  George  Watkins,  a  ^Vhig 
patriot,  who  had  been  made  a  prisoner  by  Ferguson,  but  had  been 


and  Southwest  Virginia  383 

released  on  parole  and  was  on  his  way  home.  Watkins  gave  infor- 
mation that  induced  the  Americans  to  commence  the  attack  upon 
the  enemy  without  delay.  The  army  was  formed  into  two  lines,  or 
divisions,  one  to  be  led  by  Colonel  Campbell,  and  the  other  by 
Colonel  Cleveland.  Following  plans  that  had  already  been  agreed 
upon  in  council,  the  little  army  encircled  the  eminence  occupied  by 
Ferguson,  and  at  about  3  o'clock  p.  m.  the  conflict  became  fast  and 
furious.  Before  advancing  to  the  attack,  Campbell  went  along  the 
lines  and  told  his  troops:  "that  if  any  of  them,  men  or  officers,  were 
afraid,  to  quit  tlie  ranks  and  go  home;  that  he  wished  no  man  to 
engage  in  the  action  who  could  not  fight;  that,  as  for  himself,  he 
was  determined  to  fight  the  enemy  a  week,  if  need  be  to  gain  the 
victory."  The  Virginia  men  were  the  first  to  get  in  position,  and, 
without  waiting  for  the  other  regiments,  they  started  into-  the  fray. 
Campbell,  when  leading  his  men  to  the  attack,  cried  out  in  a  loud 
voice, — "Here  they  are,  my  brave  boys;  shout  like  h — 1,  and  fight 
like  devils."  Draper,  in  his  "King's  Mountain  And  Its  Heroes," 
says: 

"Where  Campbell's  men  ascended  the  moxmtain  to  commence  the 
attack  was  rough,  craggy,  and  rather  abrupt — the  most  difficult 
ascent  of  any  part  of  the  ridge ;  but  these  resolute  mountaineers  per- 
mitted no  obstacles  to  prevent  them  from  advancing  upon  the  foe, 
creeping  up  the  acclivity,  little  by  little,  and  from  tree  to  tree,  till 
they  were  nearly  at  the  top — the  action  commencing  at  long  fire." 

The  men  from  Tazewell  were  of  and  among  these  resolute  moun- 
taineers who  were  thus  fighting  as  they  were  accustomed  to  fight 
the  Indians;  and  it  was  upon  these  men  that  Ferguson  turned  his 
best  troops  to  make  a  charge  with  fixed  bayonets.  Draper  says 
that  while  the  Virginia  men  were  making  this  advance: 

"Lieutenant  Rees  Bo  wen,  who  commanded  one  of  these  com- 
panies of  the  Vii'ginia  regiment,  was  observed,  while  marching  for- 
ward to  attack  the  enemy,  to  make  a  hazardous  and  unnecessary 
exposure  of  his  person.  Some  friend  kindly  remonstrated  witli 
him — 'why  Bowen,  do  you  not  take  a  tree — why  rashly  present  your^ 
self  to  the  deliberate  aim  of  the  Provincial  and  Tory  riflemen,  con- 
cealed behind  every  rock  and  bush  before  you? — death  will  inevit- 
ably follow,  if  you  persist.'  'Take  to  a  tree,'  he  indignantly  replied 
— 'no !  never  shall  it  be  said  that  I  sought  safety  by  hiding  my 


384  History  of  Tazewell  County 

person,  or  dodging  from  a  Bi'iton  or  Tory  who  opposed  me  in  the 
field.'  "  A  few  moments  after  uttering  these  words,  the  fearless 
Bowen  was  shot  through  the  breast,  fell  to  the  ground,  and  expired 
almost  instantly. 

The  engagement  lasted  for  one  hour  and  five  minutes,  with  alter- 
nate advances  and  repulses  by  the  opposing  forces.  One  historian 
says:  "Three  times  did  the  Britons  charge  with  bayonet  down  the 
hill;  as  often  did  the  Americans  retreat:  and  the  moment  the  Britons 
turned  their  backs,  the  Americans  shot  from  behind  every  tree,  and 
every  rock,  and  laid  them  prostrate." 

Ferguson  was  as  recklessly  brave  as  he  was  ruthless  in  his  con- 
duct as  a  soldier.  Finding  that  the  "Back  Water  men"  were  likely 
to  win  the  day,  he  resolved  to  try  to  make  his  escape  by  charging 
at  the  head  of  his  forces,  and  cutting  his  way  through  the  lines  of 
the  Americans.  The  mountain  riflemen  were  all  eager  to  have  the 
honor  of  slaying  the  hated  British  leader;  and  in  his  last  charge 
Ferguson  received  six  or  eight  wounds,  one  bullet  crasliing  through 
his  brain.  His  death  brought  consternation  to  the  Tories  and  Pro- 
vincial troops,  and  white  flags  were  raised  repeatedly  by  the  discom- 
fited enemy;  but  the  confusion  was  intense  and  the  Americans  con- 
tinued to  shoot  and  kill  until  their  vengeance  was  fully  satisfied. 
Campbell  and  Shelby  finally  succeeded  in  getting  their  men  to  cease 
firing  and  the  slaughter  came  to  an  end. 

From  the  best  information  obtainable  at  the  time,  it  was  esti- 
mated that  the  British  had  about  nine  hundred  men  and  the  Ameri- 
cans the  same  number  in  the  engagement;  and  there  were  several 
contemporary  reports  of  the  losses  that  each  side  suffered.  Five 
days  after  the  battle  Colonel  Isaac  Shelby  wrote  a  letter  to  his 
father.  Colonel  Evan  Shelby,  in  which  he  reported  the  British 
casualties  as  follows:  "Ferguson's  corps,  thirty-seven  killed  and 
twenty-eight  wounded;  Tories,  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  killed 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  wounded — a  total  of  157  killed  and 
153  woimded.  Shelby  also  told  his  father  tliat  706  prisoners  were 
taken.  It  is  conceded  by  historians  that  Shelby's  report  of  the 
British  losses  is  more  nearly  accurate  tlian  any  given. 

The  final  official  report  made  by  Colonel  Campbell  and  his  asso- 
ciate officers  placed  the  Americans  killed  at  twenty-eight,  and  the 
wounded  at  sixtj^-two — a  total  of  ninety. 

Colonel  Campbell's  regiment  of  Virginians  were  the  first  to  enter 


and  Southwest  Virginia  385 

the  engagement  and  they  were  in  the  hotest  and  thickest  of  the 
fray  while  the  battle  lasted.  Consequently,  they  suffered  heavier 
losses  than  any  other  regiment  engaged.  Of  the  Virginia  men,  thir- 
teen officers  and  one  private  were  killed,  or  mortally  wounded;  and 
tliree  officers  and  eighteen  privates  were  wounded  and  recovered. 
The  killed  were.  Captain  William  Edmondson;  Lieutenants  Rees 
Bowen,  William  Blackburn,  and  Robert  Edmondson,  Sr. ;  Ensigns 
Andrew  Edmondson,  John  Beattie,  James  Corry,  Nathaniel  Dryden, 
Nathaniel  Gist,  James  Philips,  and  Humberson  Lyon,  and  private 
Henry  Henigar.  Lieutenant  Thomas  McCulloch,  and  Ensign 
James  Laird,  who  had  been  mortally  wounded,  died  from  their 
wounds  a  few  days  after  the  battle.  All  of  the  eighteen  privates  who 
were  wounded  recovered ;  but  the  names  of  the  following  are  all  that 
have  been  preserved:  Frederick  Fisher,  Jolon  Skeggs,  Benoni  Ban- 
ning, Charles  Kilgore,  William  Bullen,  Leonard  Hyce,  Israel  Hay- 
ter,  and  William  Moore. 

After  the  War  of  the  Revolution  was  over.  Colonels  Shelby  and 
Sevier  were  led,  or  assumed,  to  believe  that  Colonel  Campbell  had 
not  acted  courageously  in  the  battle.  This  provoked  a  controversy 
between  the  friends  of  Campbell,  who  was  then  dead,  and  the  sup- 
porters of  Sevier  and  Shelby,  that  was  so  rancorous  that  it  did  not 
terminate  until  after  the  death  of  Colonels  Shelby  and  Sevier.  A 
feeling  of  bitter  resentment  is  still  alive  among  the  descendants  of 
the  three  gallant  men  who,  together,  won  the  splendid  victory  at 
King's  Mountain.    Lyman  C.  Draper  says: 

"It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  such  patriots  as  Shelby  and  Sevier 
should  have  been  deceived  into  the  belief  that  the  chivalric  Campbell 
shirked  from  the  dangers  of  the  conflict,  mistaking,  as  they  did,  the 
Colonel's  servant  in  the  distance  for  the  Colonel  himself ;  when  well- 
nigh  fort}'  survivors  of  the  battle,  including  some  of  Campbell's 
worthiest  officers,  and  men  of  Shelby's,  and  Cleveland's  regiments  as 
well,  testifying,  of  their  own  knowledge,  to  his  personal  share  in  the 
action,  and  specifying  his  presence  in  every  part  of  the  hotly-con- 
tested engagement,  from  the  beginning  to  the  final  surrender  of  the 
enemy  at  discretion.  It  is  evident  that  such  heroes  as  Shelby  and 
Sevier  had  quite  enough  to  do  within  the  range  of  their  own  regi- 
ments, without  being  able  to  observe  very  much  what  was  transpiring 
beyond  them." 

T.H.— 25 


386  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Nearly  half  of  the  Americans  who  were  killed  in  the  battle,  and 
one-third  of  the  wounded  were  members  of  Campbell's  regiment, 
while  thirteen  of  the  fourteen  killed  were  officers.  This  shows  how 
the  Virginians  fearlessly  met  the  foe  and  that  they  were  gallantly 
led  by  their  officers,  including  Colonel  Campbell. 

The  Americans  had  no  surgeon,  and  of  the  three  surgeons  with 
Ferguson's  men  only  one  survived  the  battle.  Dr.  Johnson.  He 
kindly  gave  the  necessary  surgical  attention  to  the  most  severely 
wounded  Americans,  as  well  as  to  the  British  wounded.  The  Vir- 
ginia frontiersmen,  however,  were  accustomed  to  treating  gunshot 
wounds,  having  gained  experience  from  their  frequent  bloody  en- 
counters with  the  Indians.  Both  the  victors  and  the  vanquished 
camped  on  the  battle  field  the  night  following  the  engagement.  One 
of  the  Virginians  who  was  in  the  fight  afterwards  said:  "The 
groans  of  the  wounded  and  dying  on  the  mountain  was  truly  affect- 
ing, begging  piteously  for  water,  but  in  the  hurry,  confusion  and 
exhaustion  of  the  Whigs,  these  cries,  when  emanating  from  Tories, 
were  little  heeded." 

An  interesting  event  that  has  come  down  by  tradition  occurred  in 
this  connection.  Among  Campbell's  riflemen  from  Washington  County 
was  a  German  Huguenot  by  the  name  of  Philip  Greever.  He  was 
then  living  just  west  of  the  present  town  of  Chilhowie,  in  Smyth 
County.  Like  all  the  expert  riflemen  from  Southwest  Virginia,  he 
fought  from  behind  a  tree,  and  was  the  first  to  fire  a  shot  in  the 
fight.  After  the  battle  was  over,  the  Americans  rendered  what  aid 
they  could  to  their  wounded  foes,  especially  those  of  Ferguson's 
corps.  Greever,  while  engaged  in  this  humane  work,  found  a 
wounded  Tory  lying  behind  a  tree  on  the  hillside,  with  his  hip  broken 
by  a  rifle  bullet  and  calling  for  water.  Greever  went  to  a  spring 
at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and,  having  no  cup  or  other  vessel,  filled  his 
coon-skin  cap  with  water  and  carried  it  back  to  the  wounded  Tory. 
The  latter  was  very  grateful  for  the  kind  attention  given  him  by  the 
mountainer,  and  bewailed  his  misfortune  as  unusually  trying, 
because,  he  said,  "the  first  shot  that  was  fired  broke  my  thigh." 
Greever  was  very  much  interested  and  astonished,  and  replied: 
"Well  I  was  the  man  who  fired  that  first  shot."  This  incident  comes 
from  Greever's  son,  also  named  Philip,  who  moved  to  Burke's  Gar- 
den more  than  a  hundred  years  ago ;  where  a  number  of  his  descend- 
ants still  live.     In  fact,  all  the  Greevers  now  in  Tazewell  county  are 


and  Southwest  Virginia  387 

his  descendants.  He  brought  with  him  to  the  Garden  several  relics 
his  father  picked  up  on  the  battle  field  at  King's  Mountain,  among 
them  a  pair  of  scissors  which  were  used  for  many  years  as  a  pound 
weight  on  the  farm  steelyards,  being  the  exact  weight  required  for 
that  purpose. 

As  late  as  the  year  1822  the  controversy  between  the  descendants 
of  General  William  Campbell  and  those  of  Shelby  and  Sevier  was 
still  raging.  General  Francis  Preston,  a  grandson  of  General  Camp- 
bell, procured  from  Philip  Greever,  who  was  one  of  the  volunteers 
from  the  Holston  settlements  in  Washington  County,  an  affidavit. 
In  this  affidavit,  Greever  swore  that  General  Campbell  "behaved  as 
a  brave  officer  and  was  kind  to  his  men  but  severe  against  the 
Tories."  Greever  also  stated  very  modestly  in  the  affidavit  that  he 
was  the  first  one  of  Campbell's  men  to  fire  at  a  "Tory  I  saw  behind 
a  tree."  As  Campbell's  men  were  the  first  to  engage  in  the  battle 
it  necessarily  follows  that  Greever  fired  the  first  shot  at  King's 
Mountain.  This  practically  substantiates  the  story  handed  down  by 
tradition  through  the  descendants  of  Philip  Greever.  The  affidavit 
was  never  published,  and  the  original  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
Captain  John  M.  Preston,  a  great-great-grandson  of  General  Camp- 
bell, who  owns  and  lives  upon  a  part  of  the  Campbell  place,  Aspin- 
vale,  at  Seven  Mile  Ford,  Smyth  County. 

On  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  October,  the  army  began  its  return 
march,  with  the  prisoners  strongly  guarded,  and  the  wounded  Ameri- 
cans conveyed  on  horse-litters.  Colonel  Campbell  remained  behind 
with  a  detail  of  men  to  bury  the  American  and  British  dead,  but 
joined  his  men  when  they  went  into  camp  about  twelve  miles  from 
the  battle  ground.  Most  of  the  troops  had  been  without  food  for 
two  days,  and  near  the  camp  a  sweet  potato  patch  was  found  with 
sufficient  potatoes  to  supply  the  whole  army.  Colonel  Shelby  said 
of  the  homeward  journey:  "Owing  to  the  number  of  wounded,  and 
the  destitution  of  the  army  of  all  conveyances,  they  traveled  very 
slowly,  and  in  one  week  had  only  marched  about  forty  miles." 
There  is  no  record  which  shows  when  the  men  from  Tazewell  arrived 
at  their  homes,  but  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  they  all  got  back  safely, 
except  their  gallant  leader,  Rees  Bowen,  whom  they  left  in  a  heroe's 
grave  at  King's  Mountain,  and  Ensign  James  Laird,  who  died  from 
the  wounds  he  received  in  the  battle.  He  was  being  conveyed  home 
on  a  horse-litter,  and,  when  crossing  a  mountain  or  stream,  wasi 


388  History  of  Tazewell  County 

thrown  from  the  litter.     The  heavy  fall  opened  the  wounds  afresh 
and  the  shock  killed  him. 


Very  soon  after  the  Tazewell  patriots  returned  from  King's 
Mountain,  another  call  was  made  upon  the  men  of  Southwest  Vir- 
ginia to  go  to  North  Carolina.  In  January,  1781,  General  Nathaniel 
Greene  was  commanding  the  patriot  army  in  that  State,  and  was 
being  hard  pressed  by  Cornwallis  and  Tarleton.  On  the  13th  of 
the  month.  General  Greene  wrote  to  Colonel  William  Campbell, 
reminding  him  of  the  gallant  conduct  of  himself  and  his  Washington 
County  riflemen  at  King's  Mountain;  and  requesting  him  "to  bring, 
without  loss  of  time,  a  thousand  good  volunteers  from  over  the  moun- 
tain." Campbell  took  immediate  steps  to  comply  with  General 
Greene's  urgent  request;  and  on  the  25th  of  February  he  started 
-with  about  two  hundred  volunteers  from  the  Washington  County 
militia  to  join  General  Greene. 

After  starting  on  the  march,  Campbell  wrote  a  letter  to  Governor 
Jefferson  in  which  he  said:  "A  large  number  would  have  gone, 
were  it  not  for  the  daily  apprehensions  of  attacks  from  the  north- 
ward and  southern  Indians."  The  British  agents  were  still  urging 
the  Cherokees  to  invade  the  Holston  settlements,  and  small  bands 
of  Ohio  Indians  were  making  bloody  scalping  expeditions  to  the 
Clinch  Valley.  Colonel  Campbell  proceeded  to  the  Lead  Mines  with 
his  volunteers,  and  was  there  joined  by  several  hundred  Montgomery 
County  militia,  led  by  Colonel  William  Preston  and  Major  Walter 
Crockett.  From  the  Lead  Mines,  the  united  forces  were  marched  to 
North  Carolina  and  reached  General  Greene  on  the  2nd  of  March, 
1781.  There  was  a  company  of  men  under  the  command  of  Captain 
James  Moore  with  the  Campbell-Preston  forces.  They  were  from 
that  portion  of  Tazewell  that  was  then  embraced  in  Montgomery 
County.  James  Moore  had  been  commissioned  by  Governor  Jeffer- 
Bon  a  captain  of  militia  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  county  court 
of  Montgomery  County  at  its  April  term,  1779;  and  George  Peery 
and  William  McGuire  had  been  commissioned,  respectively,  First 
and  Second  Lieutenant  of  Moore's  company.  No  roll  of  the  com- 
pany was  preserved,  but  from  tradition  and  scattered  records  it  is 
known  that.  Captain  James  Moore,  George  Peery,  James  Cartmill, 
Samuel  Furguson,  William  Peery,  John  Peery,  and  Thomas  Peery 


and  Southwest  Virginia  389 

were  with  the  Montgomery  militia,  and  participated  in  the  engage- 
ment at  Whitzell's  Mills  on  the  6th  of  March,  and  in  the  battle  at 
Guilford  Court  House  on  the  15th  of  March,  1781.  In  both  of  these 
engagements  the  riflemen  from  Washington  and  Montgomery  coun- 
ties enacted  an  important  part;  and  with  their  "terrible  guns" 
inflicted  heavy  losses  upon  the  enemy.  In  this  battle  at  Guilford 
Court  House  the  men  from  both  of  the  counties  were  commanded  by 
Colonel  William  Campbell;  and  they  were  the  first  to  enter  the 
engagement  and  the  last  to  withdraw  from  it.     Draper  says: 

"So  severely  did  Campbell's  riflemen  handle  his  right  wing,  that 
Lord  Cornwallis  was  obliged  to  order  Tai-leton  to  extricate  it,  and 
bring  it  off.  By  this  time  Lee  had  retired  with  his  cavalry,  without 
apprising  Campbell  of  his  movement;  and  the  result  was,  that  the 
riflemen  were  swept  from  the  field." 

In  the  charge  made  by  Tarleton's  men,  Thomas  Peery  was  killed 
and  his  father,  John  Peery,  was  frightfully  wounded.  He  was  dis- 
abled by  a  saber  blow  and  fell  upon  the  groimd.  While  prostrate, 
as  Tarleton's  troops  passed  their  stricken  foe,  each  brutal  Briton 
gave  him  a  cut  with  a  saber.  He  received  fifty-four  saber  cuts,  and 
his  head  and  arms  were  literally  cut  to  pieces.  But  the  hardy  Taze- 
well pioneer  survived,  recovered  from  his  numerous  wounds,  and 
returned  to  his  home  on  the  Clinch,  where  he  lived  a  number  of 
years  in  enjoyment  of  the  freedom  for  which  he  had  given  a  gallant 
son  and  suffered  so  terribly  himself. 

There  were  others  of  the  Tazewell  pioneers  who  were  active  par- 
ticipants in  the  Revolutionary  War  and  did  service  in  the  Conti- 
nental army,  but  the  names  of  only  a  few  of  them  have  been 
recorded.  It  is  known  that  Thomas  Harrisson  fought  in  the  engage- 
ments at  Brandywine,  Germantown,  and  Yorktown;  Archer  Maloney 
was  at  Brandywine,  and  Stoney  Point;  and  Isam  Tomlinson  was  in 
the  battles  at  Brandywine  and  Germantown. 


During  the  entire  progress  of  the  Revolution  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Upper  Clinch  Valley  were  compelled  to  rely  upon  their  own 
strong  arms  and  brave  hearts  for  protection  against  the  hostile 
Indians.  The  civil  and  military  authorities  of  Washington  and 
Montgomery  counties  were  apparently  more  anxious  to  protect  the 


390  History  of  Tazewell  County 

settlements  in  Kentucky  and  the  Greenbrier  and  Kanawha  regions 
than  those  of  the  Clinch  Valley.  It  may  be  that  the  Washington  and 
Montgomery  authorities  were  impelled  to  this  course  by  their  abso- 
lute confidence  in  the  superior  capacity  of  our  pioneer  ancestors  to 
take  care  of  themselves — and  in  this  they  were  not  mistaken.  At 
any  rate,  the  Sandy  Valley  was  left  wide  open,  there  being  no  forts 
or  stations  established  on  the  Ohio  River,  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Kanawha  to  the  mouth  of  Licking  Creek.  This  not  only  gave  oppor- 
tunity but  was  seemingly  an  invitation  to  the  Shawnees  to  make  hos- 
tile attacks  upon  the  Clinch  Valley  settlements.  The  redskins 
availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity,  and  made  frequent  bloody 
incursions,  of  which    I  will  write  in  succeeding  chapters. 

For  the  first  three  years  of  the  Revolutionary  period,  the  Vir- 
ginia Government  gave  no  attention  to  the  exposed  settlements  of 
the  Clinch  Valley;  but  at  last,  on  the  23rd  of  July,  1779,  the  State 
Council  entered  an  order  directing  General  Andrew  Lewis,  Colonel 
William  Fleming,  and  Colonel  William  Christian  "to  meet  for  the 
purpose  of  fixing  the  Stations  proper  for  the  Troops  designed  for  the 
Defence  of  the  So.  Western  Frontiers." 

In  compliance  with  this  order.  General  Andrew  Lewis  and 
Colonel  William  Fleming  met  at  Botetourt,  August  31,  1779;  "and 
on  Maturely  considering  the  order  of  Council,  to  comply  therewith, 
in  forming  as  compleat  a  Chain  of  defence  as  the  number  of  men 
allotted  for  that  service  will  admit  of.  It  is  our  opinion  that  at,  or 
as  near  the  following  places  mentioned  as  a  proper  situation  will 
suit — Fifty  men  with  the  usual  Officers  be  stationed  at  or  near  the 
Mouth  of  Guayandot  and  Fifty  Rank  &  File  with  the  proper  Officers 
at  or  near  the  Mouth  of  Big  Sandy  River,  One  Hundred  Rank  & 
File  at  or  near  the  Junction  of  Licking  Creek  with  the  Ohio.  And 
Fifty  at  or  near  Martin's  Cabin  in  Powells  Valley.  We  imagine 
these  posts  occupied  on  the  Ohio,  will  be  of  more  service  for  the 
protection  of  the  frontier  than  stationing  the  Battalion  near  the 
Inhabitants."  In  their  report  to  Governor  Jefferson,  General 
Lewis  and  Colonel  Fleming  make  it  very  plain  that  garrisons  sta- 
tioned at  the  several  points  suggested,  would  give  excellent  defence 
to  the  entire  Virginia  frontier  on  the  Ohio  River.  If  the  recom- 
mendations of  Lewis  and  Fleming  had  been  adopted  and  promptly 
carried  out,  there  would  have  been  no  subsequent  incursions  made 
by  the   Indians  to  the  Clinch  Valley;   and  a  number  of   precious 


and  Southwest  Virginia  391 

lives    would   have   been   saved   from    the   tomahawks    and   scalping 
knives  of  the  savages. 

IN  SUCCESSION   RUSSELL^  WYTHE   AND  TAZEWELL   COUNTIES 
WERE    FORMED. 

As  soon  as  the  Revolutionary  War  had  terminated  in  favor  of 
the  United  Colonies,  numbers  of  new  settlers  established  them- 
selves in  the  section  which  later  became  Tazewell  County.  They 
were  largely  attracted  by  the  fertile  lands,  splendid  springs  and 
mountain  streams,  abundance  of  game,  and  the  rich  pasturage  for 
domestic  animals.  And  they  were  also  drawn  hither  from  a  desire 
to  become  the  friends  and  neighbors  of  the  pioneer  settlers,  who 
were  famous  as  Indian  fighters  and  had  won  distinction  at  King's 
Mountain,  or  on  other  battlefields  in  the  great  struggle  for  Ameri- 
can freedom. 

The  suggestions  of  Lewis  and  Fleming  that  forts  should  be 
erected  at  the  mouth  of  Guyandotte  and  the  mouth  of  Big  Sandy 
were  not  carried  out;  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Clinch  Valley  were 
left  exposed  for  the  next  succeeding  thirteen  years  to  bloody  attacks 
from  the  Ohio  Indians.  This  was  a  great  injustice  on  the  part  of 
the  State  and  county  authorities  to  the  settlers  who  were  founding 
a  community  that  would,  in  the  coming  years,  be  recognized  as  one 
of  the  most  useful,  wealthy,  and  intelligent  within  the  bounds  of 
our  Commonwealth.  Regardless  of  the  careless  and  indifferent 
treatment  extended  them,  our  worthy  ancestors  wrought  on,  and 
within  a  period  of  thirty  years  from  the  arrival  of  the  first  settlers 
on  the  Clinch  had  transformed  the  wilderness  into  a  substantial 
community  of  comfortable  homes. 

In  the  meantime,  there  had  been  such  considerable  accessions 
to  the  population  of  the  Lower  Clinch  Valley  settlements,  and  in 
those  sections  of  Washington  County  that  now  compose  the  coun- 
ties of  Russell,  Scott,  Lee,  and  Wise,  that  the  inhabitants  were 
desirous  of  having  a  new  county  erected.  To  that  end  a  petition 
was  presented  to  the  Virginia  General  Assembly  by  the  citizens  of 
the  said  territory ;  and  an  act  for  dividing  Washington  County  into 
two  counties  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  on  the  6th  of  January, 
1786.  The  new  county  was  named  Russell,  from  General  William 
Russell,  its  then  most  distinguished  citizen;  and  the  boundaries  of 
the  two  counties  were  defined  as   follows:     "All  that  part  of  the 


392  History  of  Tazewell  County 

said  county  (Washington)  lying  within  a  line,  to  be  run  along  the 
Clinch  Mountain  to  the  Carolina  line  (now  Tennessee  line)  ;  thence 
with  that  line  to  the  Cumberland  Mountain  and  the  extent  of  the 
country  between  the  Cumberland  Mountain,  Clinch  Mountain,  and 
the  line  of  Montgomery  County,  shall  be  one  distinct  county,  and 
shall  be  called  and  known  by  the  name  of  Russell,  and  the  residue 
of  the  said  county  shall  retain  the  name  of  Washington." 

The  beginning  point  was  at  the  Montgomery  County  line,  on 
the  top  of  the  Clinch  Mountain,  about  three  miles  southwest  of 
Morris'  Knob.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  all  of  Washington  County 
that  was  located  north  of  Clinch  Mountain  was  constituted  and 
became  Russell  County;  and  that  all  that  portion  of  Tazewell 
County,  as  originally  formed,  lying  west  of  the  Montgomery  line 
was  made  a  part  of  Russell  by  the  act  of  1786. 

Three  years  later  the  inhabitants  of  that  part  of  Montgomery 
County  lying  west  of  New  River,  petitioned  the  General  Assembly 
to  erect  a  new  county.  In  response  to  the  petition,  the  General 
Assembly,  on  December  the  1st,  1789,  passed  an  act  for  dividing 
the  county  of  Montgomery  and  creating  a  new  county  to  be  called 
Wythe.  The  act  declared:  "That  from  and  after  the  first  day  of 
May  next  (1790),  all  that  part  of  the  county  of  Montgomery,  which 
lies  south-west  of  a  line  beginning  on  the  Henry  line,  at  the  head  of 
Big  Reedy  Island,  from  thence  to  the  wagon  ford  at  Peek  creek; 
thence  to  clover  bottom  on  Bluestone,  thence  to  the  Kanawha 
county  line,  shall  form  one  distinct  county,  and  be  called  and  known 
by  the  name  of  Wythe." 

The  new  county  received  its  name  from  George  Wythe,  the  emi- 
nent jurist,  who  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, as  a  delegate  from  Virginia.  All  of  the  territory  east  of 
the  line  between  Russell  and  Montgomery  that  afterwards  became  a 
part  of  Tazewell  County  was  placed  in  Wythe  County,  where  it 
remained  until  Tazewell  was  formed. 


The  high  ambition  that  brought  the  pioneers  to  the  Upper 
Clinch  Valley  at  length  reached  a  concrete  form.  They  had  been 
compelled,  even  if  they  had  not  preferred  to  do  so,  to  carve  out 
their  own  destiny  as  a  community,  unassisted  in  this  isolated  but 


and  Southwest  Virginia  393 

charming  region.  Their  self-reliance  had  grown  as  their  duties  and 
numbers  had  multiplied;  and  in  the  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth 
century  they  began  to  yearn  and  clamor  for  the  full  exercise  of 
local  self-government.  In  other  words,  they  wanted  a  county  for 
themselves.  This  aspiration  was  at  first  obstructed  and  thwarted 
by  certain  citizens  of  the  two  counties — Russell  and  Wythe — from 
parts  of  which  the  new  county  was  to  be  formed.  The  opposition 
came  largely  from  the  county  officers  of  Wythe  and  Russell.  They 
did  not  want  to  relinquish  any  of  the  emoluments  of  their  offices, 
some  of  the  offices  being  very  lucrative  for  that  day  and  generation. 

In  1799  the  movement  for  a  new  county  became  so  active  and 
persistent  that  it  brought  to  pass  the  long  desired  event.  A  petition 
was  prepared,  circulated,  and  signed  by  hundreds  of  citizens  of  the 
counties  of  Russell  and  Wythe  praying  for  the  creation  of  a  new 
county.  It  was  my  good  fortune  recently  to  find  among  the  archives 
deposited  in  the  Virginia  State  Library  the  original  petition  sent 
to  the  General  Assembly  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  ago.  Its 
recitals  so  graphically  set  forth  the  needs  of  the  settlements  in 
Tazewell  at  that  period  that  it  is  invaluable  from  a  historic  stand- 
point.    Hence,  I  will  give  it  in  full: 

"To  the  Honourable  the  Speaker,  And  Gentlemen  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  Virginia; 

"The  Petition  of  the  Inhabitants  of  a  part  of  the  Counties  of 
Wythe  &  Russell,  humbly  Represents 

That  your  Petitioners  for  near  thirty  years,  have  been  under 

the  Disagreeable  Necessity  of  traveling  fifty  miles  or  upward  to 
transact  our  own  Ordinary  Business,  besides  Regimental  Musters, 
Elections,  &c  in  which  cases  the  Laws  of  the  State  Requires  our 
attendance.  • — Our  Roads  also  are  Intolerably  bad;  many  of  your 
Petitioners  have  to  cross  four  Large  Mountains,  the  least  of  which 
chain  would  in  the  Interior  parts  of  the  State,  be  considered  almost 
Impassable,  And,  between  each  of  those  Mountains  there  are  Rapid 
Water  Courses,  which  in  common  with  all  streams  Among  Moun- 
tains, are  Quickly  made  Impassable  by  Rains,  and  Renders  the 
passage  Dangerous,  as  well  as  fatigueing  &  Expensive.  Your 
Petitioners  have  for  many  years,  not  only  Experienced  the  hard- 
ships Naturally  to  be  expected  from  the  above  Difficulties,  but  at 
the  same  time  had  to  Defend  ourselves  against  the  Perpetual  Incur- 


394  History  of  Tazewell  County 

sions  of  our  Savage  Enemies,  and  that  at  the  Expense  of  many 
Valuable  Lives;  still  hoping  and  expecting,  that  when  peace  would 
again  Return  to  our  Country,  when  our  Number,  and  other  circum- 
stances would  fairly  admit,  that  the  General  Assembly  (on  applica- 
tion) would  Remove  our  Local  Inconveniences,  by  granting  us  A 
new  County;  We  however  have  been  thus  far  Disappointed  in  our 
Expectations,  by  a  small  party  of  Designing  men  who  have  from 
dme  to  time  Opposed  our  Petition,  and  by  Misrepresenting  our  case, 
have  prevented  our  success ;  But  as  we  find  our  Difficulties  Increase 
with  our  Population  as  we  wish  for  nothing  more  than  A  Just 
Representation  of  facts.  And  as  we  believe,  that  if  the  General 
Assembly  were  fully  acquainted  with  the  Geography  of  our  country, 
it  would  Insure  our  success,  we  beg  leave  once  more  to  pray  that 
your  Honourable  house  would  be  pleased  to  pass  an  act  that  a  new 
county  may  be  formed  of  parts  taken  from  the  counties  of  Wythe 
and  Russell,  Beginning  at  the  Kanawha  Line  and  Running  with  the 
Line  which  divides  the  counties  of  Wythe  and  Montgomery  to  where 
said  line  Crosses  the  top  of  Brushy  Mountain,  Thence  along  the 
top  of  said  Mountain  to  its  junction  with  the  Garden  Mountain, 
thence  along  said  Mountain  to  the  Clinch  Mountain,  Thence  along 
the  top  of  said  Mountain  to  the  head  of  Cove  Creek,  a  Branch  of 
the  Maiden  Spring  fork  of  Clinch  River;  Thence  a  straight  Line  to 
Manns  Gap  in  Kents  Ridge ;  Thence  North,  forty  five  Degrees 
West,  till  it  strikes  the  Line  which  Divides  the  State  of  Kentucky, 
from  that  of  Virginia ;  Along  sd.  Line  to  the  Kanawha  Line,  And 
with  said  Line  to  the  Beginning.  —  A  County  bounded  as  above, 
would  we  humbly  Conceive  Answer  all  the  purposes  contemplated 
by  your  Petitioners  without  Injuring  Either  of  the  Counties  from 
which  it  would  be  taken,  as  it  would  leave  the  court  house  of  Rus- 
sell County  in  the  Centre  thereof,  &  prevent  all  Disputes  in  the 
future  about  the  situation  of  the  court  house  in  that  county,  it  would 
also  Divide  the  County  of  Wythe  by  the  Chain  of  Mountains  above 
Described  &  thereby  Add  to  the  ease  and  convenience  of  both  par- 
ties. We  therefore  submit  our  case  to  the  most  serious  considera- 
tion of  the  Legislature,  in  humble  confidence  that  our  grievances 
will  be  Redressed  and  that  A  New  County  will  be  formed  Agreeable 
to  the  prayer  of  our  petition.  And  your  petitioners  as  in  Duty 
bound  shall  ever  pray  &c." 


and  Southwest  Virginia  395 

Is  ,it  any  wonder  that  the  petitioners  from  Russell  and  Wythe 
attained  their  object?  A  stronger  and  more  effectively  conceived 
petition  was  never  presented  to  the  Virginia  General  Assembly. 
The  penmanship  of  the  petition  is  very  fine;  and  though  the  paper 
abounds  with  capital  letters  and  is  defective  in  punctuation,  it  is 
a  wonderfully  forceful  document;  and  it  is  unfortunate  that  the 
name  of  the  author  was  not  preserved.  I  have  repeatedly  asserted 
that  the  settlers  of  the  Upper  Clinch  and  Bluestone  Valleys  were 
cruelly  neglected  by  the  State  and  county  authorities;  and  this 
petition  verifies  my  assertions. 

\ATien  the  petition  was  presented  to  the  General  Assembly  it  met 
with  the  usual  opposition  from  "Designing  men;"  but  on  the  20th 
of  December,  1799,  the  act  was  passed  for  the  erection  of  a  new 
county,  and  the  act  is  as  follows : 

"I.  Be  it  enacted  hj  the  general  assembly,  That  all  that  part  of 
the  counties  of  Wythe  and  Russell,  lying  within  the  following 
bounds,  beginning  on  the  Kanawha  line  and  running  with  the  line 
which  divides  Montgomery  and  Wythe  counties  to  where  the  said  line 
crosses  the  top  of  Brushy  mountain,  thence  along  the  top  of  the  said 
mountain  to  its  junction  with  the  Garden  mountain,  thence  along 
the  top  of  the  said  mountain  to  the  Church  mountain  (should  be 
Clinch  Mountain),  thence  along  the  top  of  the  said  mountain  to  the 
head  of  Cove  Creek  a  branch  of  the  Maiden  Spring  fork  of  Clinch 
river ;  thence  a  straight  line  to  Mann's  Gap  in  Kent's  ridge ;  thence 
north  forty-five  degrees  west,  to  the  line  which  divides  the  state  of 
Kentucky  from  that  of  Virginia ;  thence  along  said  line  to  the 
Kanawha  line,  and  with  said  line  to  the  place  of  beginning,  shall  be 
known  by  the  name  of  Tazewell." 

The  act  provided  that  the  county  court,  which  was  to  be  com- 
posed of  justices  appointed  by  the  governor,  should  hold  its  terms 
on  the  first  Tuesday  in  every  month  after  the  county  was  organized ; 
and  that  the  first  meeting  of  said  court  should  be  held  at  the  house 
of  Henry  Harman,  Junior;  that,  after  taking  the  oaths  prescribed 
by  law,  the  justices  were  directed  to  administer  the  oath  of  office 
to  and  take  a  bond  from  the  sheriff  who  had  been  appointed  and 
commissioned  by  the  governor ;  that  they  appoint  and  qualify  a 
clerk;  "and  fix  upon  a  jolace  for  holding  courts  in  the  said  county, 
at,  or  near  the  centre  thereof  as  the  situation  and  conveniences  will 
admit."     After  they  had  selected  a  county  seat,  the  justices  were 


396  History  of  Tazewell  County 

directed  to  erect  public  buildings  thereon.     There  were  other  pro- 
visions in  the  act  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  give  in  detail. 

It  seems  that  the  "Designing  men,"  who  were  opposing  the 
erection  of  a  new  county  had  enlisted  the  support  of  Littleton  W. 
Tazewell.  He  was  a  young  man,  twenty-six  years  old,  and  was 
serving  his  first  term  in  the  Virginia  House  of  Delegates  as  the 
representative  from  James  City  County.  Bickley,  speaking  of  the 
opposition  manifested  by  young  Tazewell  and  the  incidents  con- 
nected therewith,  says: 

"Tazewell  county  was  named,  not  in  honor  of  Littleton  W. 
Tazewell,  as  is  generally  supposed,  but  received  its  name  somewhat 
in  the  following  manner.  Simon  Cotterel,  who  was  the  represen- 
tative from  Russell  in  1799,  having  been  authorized  to  apply  for 
the  formation  of  a  new  county,  drew  up  a  bill,  and  proposed  it 
on  the  18th,  of  December,  1779,  but  met  with  the  most  violent 
opposition  from  Mr.  Tazewell,  a  member  from  Norfolk  county,  and 
a  relative  of  L.  W.  Tazewell  then  in  Congress.  Cotterel  rose  in 
his  seat,  and  begged  the  gentleman  to  withold  his  remarks  till  his 
bill  was  matured,  to  which  he  assented.  Cotterel  erased  the  pro- 
posed name  and  inserted  that  of  Tazewell,  and  the  next  day  (19th) 
presented  his  bill  thus  amended.  Tazewell  was  silenced;  the  bill 
passed,  receiving  Tazewell's  vote.  To  this  stratagem  the  county  is 
indebted  for  its  name." 

It  is  evident  that  Dr.  Bickley  was  again  misled  by  relying 
entirely  upon  tradition.  Possibly  some  of  the  features  of  the  story 
he  heard  as  coming  from  Cotterel  may  be  true,  but  in  the  main  they 
are  incorrect.  Littleton  W.  Tazewell  was  too  high  a  man  to  be 
induced  to  withdraw  his  opposition  to  the  formation  of  the  new 
county  by  such  a  trivial  stratagem  as  that  named  by  Bickley.  After 
serving  in  the  Legislature  young  Tazewell  was  elected  to  Congress 
in  1800,  but  declined  re-election  in  1802.  He  served  in  the  United 
States  Senate  in  1834-36.  In  1829  he  declined  the  mission  to 
England;  and  in  1834-36  was  governor  of  Virginia. 

The  county  of  Tazewell  received  its  name  from  Henry  Tazewell, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate  from  Virginia  when 
the  act  was  passed  creating  the  county.  At  that  time  he  was  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  citizens  of  the  Commonwealth.     From  1775 


and  Southwest  Virginia  397 

to  1785  he  was  a  member^  in  succession,  of  the  Virginia  House  of 
Burgesses  and  the  House  of  Delegates;  and  served  on  the  com- 
mittees that  drew  the  Bill  of  Rights  and  the  first  Constitution  for 
Virginia.  He  was  for  a  number  of  years  a  judge  of  the  District 
Court  and  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  this  State. 

Littleton  W.  Tazewell  represented  James  City  County,  and  not 
Norfolk  County,  in  the  House  of  Delegates  in  1799.  The  State 
records  show  that  Simon  Cockrell,  not  "Simon  Cotterel/'  represented 
Russell  County  at  the  session  of  1798-99,  with  Francis  Browning 
as  his  colleague;  and  at  the  session  of  1799-1800,  with  James 
McFarlane  as  his  colleague.  The  patent  errors  committed  by  Bick- 
ley,  through  relying  on  hearsay  information,  or  tradition,  make  the 
tale  about  the  stratagem  practiced  by  Cotterel  insufficiently  authen- 
tic to  be  accepted  as  history. 


Appendices— Pioneer  Period 


A— Sketches  of   Pioneer  Families;   B— Mas- 
sacres by  Indians 


APPENDIX  A  TO  PIONEER  PERIOD 


SKETCHES  OF  PIONEER  FAMILIES. 

Though  it  has  never  been  my  intention  to  make  this^  m  any 
respect^  a  genealogical  history  of  the  families  of  the  first  settlers, 
it  has  been  my  purpose  to  write  brief  sketches  of  the  pioneers  and 
the  first  generation  born  in  Tazewell.  But  even  in  this  worthy 
design  I  have  been  greatly  hampered  by  failure  on  the  part  of  the 
descendants  of  the  pioneers  to  supply  me  with  needed  information. 
Therefore^  the  sketches  must  be  brief  and  few  in  number.  As  pre- 
viously stated  in  this  work,  I  will  make  no  great  eifort  to  disclose  the 
antecedents  of  the  pioneers,  except  for  the  purpose  of  showing  from 
whence  they  came.  Thomas  Witten  was  the  first  white  man  to  take 
up  permanent  residence  with  his  family  within  the  limits  of  the 
present  Tazewell  County.  For  this  reason,  he  and  his  family  will 
be  the  first  mentioned  in  these  sketches. 

THE  WITTENS  AND  CECILS. 

M 

These  two  families  were  so  intermingled  by  marriage  for  several 
generations  after  they  came  to  the  Clinch  Valley  that  I  will  write 
of  them  in  a  single  sketch.  The  Wittens  were  of  Teutonic  origin; 
but  left  Saxony  and  migrated  to  England  as  early  as  the  ninth 
century.  There  they  became  identified  with  the  Anglo-Saxons,  who 
had  conquered  the  Britons  and  gave  the  name  England  to  ancient 
Britain.  The  Cecils  were  of  purely  Celtic  blood,  and  natives  of 
the  British  Isles.  Tradition  and  documentary  evidence  reveal  that 
the  progenitors  of  the  Wittens  and  Cecils  in  America  came  from 
England  with  the  Calverts,  and  settled  in  Maryland,  then  Lord 
Baltimore's  colony. 

In  1766,  Thomas  Witten  and  Samuel  Cecil,  men  with  large  fami- 
lies, and  neighbors  and  kinsmen,  moved  from  Maryland  to  the 
region  now  called  Southwest  Virginia.  Thomas  Witten's  wife  was 
Elizabeth  Cecil,  a  sister  of  Samuel  Cecil. 

Witten  located  temporarily  at  what  is  now  known  as  the  "Wil- 
liam Allen  Place",  on  Walkers  Creek,  in  the  present  Giles  County, 
Virginia,  on  the  road  between  Poplar  Hill  and  White  Gate  in  said 

[401] 

TH.— 26. 


402  History  of  ^Tazewell  County 

county.  Cecil  pitched  his  tent  where  the  town  of  Dublin,  in  Pulaski 
County,  is  now  located.  He  lived  there  until  he  died,  in  1786,  and 
there  he  and  his  wife  are  buried. 

John  Witten,  the  eldest  son  of  Thomas,  who  had  married  before 
he  left  Maryland,  stopped  on  the  way  out  and  located  near  the 
Peaks  of  Otter,  in  Bedford  County.  Later  he  came  on  to  the  Clinch 
and  located  at  the  place  where  John  C.  St.  Clair  now  lives,  four 
miles  west  of  the  county  seat.  The  log  cabin  he  used  for  a  dwelling 
is  still  standing,  and  is  perhaps  the  oldest  house  in  the  county.  He 
afterwards  returned  with  his  family  to  Bedford,  and  in  1820  con- 
veyed his  valuable  farm  at  the  foot  of  Paint  Lick  Mountain  to  his 
brother,  Thomas  Witten,  Jr.  John  Witten  has  a  number  of  descend- 
ants in  Bedford  and  Amherst  counties,  but  they  spell  the  name 
"Whitten." 

In  the  spring  of  1767,  Thomas  Witten  moved  on  from  Walker's 
Creek  with  his  family  to  the  "Crabapple  Orchard"  tract  on  Clinch 
River,  and  with  him  came  John  Greenup,  who  had  married  Eliza- 
beth, the  eldest  daughter  of  Witten.  He  also  brought  out  five 
unmarried  sons,  Thomas,  Jr.,  James,  Philip,  Jeremiah  and  W^illiam. 
The  latter  was  a  small  boy  when  his  father  settled  on  the  Clinch, 
and  James  was  tlien  only  fifteen  years  old.  After  attaining  man- 
hood, Philip  married  Ruth  Dickerson  and  moved  to  Witten's  Land- 
ing on  the  Ohio  River.  William,  the  youngest  son  of  the  first 
Thomas,  married  and  moved  to  the  Saquatche  Valley,  in  Tennessee. 

When  trouble  began  with  the  Indians,  about  1772  or  1773, 
Thomas  Witten  and  his  sons,  assisted  by  their  neighbors,  built  a 
stockaded  fort  on  the  Clinch,  near  Pisgah.  This  was  one  of  the 
first  three  forts  built  in  the  present  bounds  of  Tazewell  County, 
and  was  a  place  of  refuge  for  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbor- 
hood when  the  Indians  made  hostile  incursions  to  the  Clinch  settle- 
ments. 

Two  of  Thomas  Witten's  sons,  Thomas,  Jr.,  and  James,  gained 
much  local  distinction  because  of  their  jDerformances  as  soldiers  and 
scouts.  Thomas,  Jr.  was  not  only  conspicuous  as  an  Indian  fighter, 
but  was  also  an  ensign  in  the  service  of  the  United  Colonies  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  He  served  as  ensign  in  one  of  the  companies 
from  Montgomery  County  that  protected  the  border  from  savage 
invasions  while  the  Revolution  was  in  progress.  In  recognition  of 
his  services  he  was  granted  a  pension  of  $24.00  a  month  by  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


403 


United  States  Government,  which  he  received  until  his  death.  To 
show  tliat  he  was  highly  esteemed  in  civil  life  by  his  fellow-citizens 
he  was  elected  one  of  the  first  members  from  Tazewell,  along  with 
David  Ward,  to  represent  the  county  in  the  Virginia  General  Assem- 
bly, serving  at  the  sessions  of  1801-02  and  1802-03.  He  married  his 
cousin,  Eleanor  Cecil,  and  fixed  his  home  at  the  place  where  Allen 
Higginbotham  now  lives  at  the  east  end  of  Paint  Lick  Mountain. 

James  Witten  was  distinguished  while  a  youth  as  the  first  among 
his  equals  as  a  woodsman  and  hunter ;  and  even  before  he  reached 


Colonel  Wilkinson  Witten  son  of  James  Witten,  the  scout  and 
pioneer,  born  Aug.  12th,  1807,  died  March  26th,  1878.  He  was  one  of 
the  most  esteemed  and  useful  citizens  of  his  day;  and  represented 
Tazewell  County  several  times  in  both  houses  of  the  Virginian  General 
Assembly. 

his  majority  was  recognized  as  the  most  skillful  and  daring  scout 
employed  by  the  military  authorities  against  the  Indians.  Bickley 
says:  "He  was  brave  and  generous  to  a  fault.  When  any  duty 
requiring  bravery,  firmness  and  prudence,  had  to  be  performed, 
James  Witten  was  the  man  invariably  chosen,  as  he  possessed  these 
qualities  in  an  eminent  degree.  Many  incidents  of  interest  are 
related  of  him,  which  should  be  preserved."  These  incidents, 
unfortunately,  were  not  related  by  Bickley;  and  his  descendants, 
who  have  been  called  upon  to  pass  through  troublous  times,  have 
failed  to  preserve  the  many  noble  and  daring  deeds  of  their  gallant 
ancestor.      He    married     his    cousin,    Rebecca    Cecil,    daughter    of 


404  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Samuel  Cecil,  in  1783,  and  located  his  home  at  the  place  where 
Colonel  Wilk  Witten,  his  grandson,  afterwards  lived  and  died,  on 
Plum  Creek,  three  miles  west  of  the  county  seat.  Very  near  and 
in  view  of  the  spot  where  he  built  his  first  cabin  home,  the  dust  of 
tliis  pioneer  hero  is  resting  beneath  a  bluegrass  sod  that  grows  on 
soil  his  strong  arms  reclaimed  from  a  wilderness  waste.  His  grave 
is  marked  by  a  rude  marble  slab,  but  cattle  and  other  animals,  I  am 
informed,  are  free  to  graze  and  trample  upon  and  about  it.  His 
numerous  descendants,  hundreds  of  whom  now  live  in  Tazewell 
County,  should  not  permit  such  neglect  of  the  last  resting  place  of 
their  gallant  ancestor,  but  should  erect  a  suitable  monument  there 
to  perpetuate  his  memory. 

Jeremiali  Witten,  though  older  than  his  brothers,  Thomas  and 
James,  held  no  official  rank  as  a  soldier,  but  he  performed  faithful 
service  as  a  private.  I  have  before  me  certain  data  which  tends  to 
show  that  he  was  a  member  of  Captain  William  Russell's  company 
and  was  with  him  at  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant.  After  his  return 
from  the  Lewis  expedition  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha,  he  per- 
formed garrison  duty  at  his  father's  fort  at  the  Crabapple  Orchard, 
■  his  name  being  on  the  roll  of  the  garrison  stationed  there  in  October, 
1774.  He  married,  and  located  his  home  on  Plum  Creek,  at  the 
place  where  the  late,  lamented  T.  E.  George  lived;  and  he  has  many 
descendants  now  living  in  Tazewell  County. 


William  Cecil,  son  of  Samuel  Cecil,  married  his  cousin,  Ann 
Witten,  daughter  of  Thomas  Witten,  about  the  year  1773.  He 
and  his  wife  made  their  home  on  the  Clinch  at  the  place  where  Otis 
E.  Hopkins  now  lives.  I  once  had  in  my  possession  a  patent  for 
this  boundary  of  land  that  was  issued  by  authority  of  George  III. 
to  William  Cecil,  and  which  bore  date  1774.  This  is  the  oldest 
patent  for  land  in  Tazewell  County  I  have  ever  seen.  William  Cecil 
was  my  great-grandfather  and  I  am  named  from  him.  His  brother, 
James  Cecil,  later,  settled  at  the  head  of  Baptist  Valley,  where  he 
built  the  house  now  owned  and  occupied  as  a  residence  by  Fullen 
Thompson.  This  is,  possibly,  the  oldest  house  in  Tazewell  County 
that  is  now  used  as  a  dwelling.  The  two  brothers,  each,  reared  a 
large  family  of  children.     They  were  not  conspicuous  as  soldiers. 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


405 


but,  no  doubt,  did  their   duty   as   frontiersmen   when  the   Indians 
invaded  the  settlements. 

William  and  Ann  Cecil  had  six  daughters  and  two  sons.  Susan 
married  Alex  Sayers ;  Rebecca  never  married;  Elizabeth  married 
William  Price;  Liimie  married  Crabtree  Price;  John  married  Lin- 
nie  Witten,  who  was  his  double  first  cousin  and  a  daughter  of  James 
Witten  the  scout;  Nancy  married  Buse  Harman;  Samuel  married 
Sallie  Poston;  and  Sally  married  James  Caldwell.  The  Prices 
moved  to  Missouri ;  and  the  Caldwells  moved  to  Tennessee.     Cap- 


Samuel  Cecil,  son  of  William  Cecil,  the  pioneer,  bom  in  1788,  died 
in  1868.  He  was  one  of  the  finest  characters  Virginia  has  ever  pro- 
duced. 

tain  John  Cecil,  son  of  William  Cecil,  was  a  prominent  figure  in  the 
civil  and  military  life  of  the  county.  He  was  for  many  years  a 
member  of  the  county  court;  and  represented  the  county  in  the 
Virginia  House  of  Delegates  at  the  sessions  of  1808-09,  1810-11 
and  1811-12.  While  the  War  of  1812  was  in  progress  he  raised 
a  company  of  volunteers  and  was  made  captain  of  the  company, 
but  the  Government  declined  to  muster  it  into  service.  After  he 
married,  Captain  Cecil  made  his  home  on  Little  River,  known  as  the 
Maiden  Spring  Fork  of  Clinch  River.  He  there  acquired  what  is 
now  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  valuable  farms  in  Tazewell 
County.  He  sold  the  place  to  John  Baylor  for  Confederate  money 
during  the  Civil  War,  and  thus  lost  his  splendid  estate. 


406  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Samuel  Cecil,  son  of  William^  after  his  marriage  with  Sally 
Poston,  in  1814  built  his  home  on  the  north  side  of  and  overlooking 
the  Clinch,  and  opposite  the  mouth  of  Plum  Creek.  The  house  is 
still  standing,  is  known  as  the  Mays  place,  and  is  now  owned  by 
Mrs.  O.  E.  Hopkins,  a  great-granddaughter  of  Samuel  Cecil.  My 
mother  was  born,  reared  and  married  to  my  father  in  this  house. 
Samuel  Cecil  did  not  care  for  public  life,  and  was  never  an  office- 
holder, civil  or  military,  but  was  esteemed  by  all  persons  who  came 
in  contact  with  him  as  one  of  the  nicest  gentlemen  they  ever  met, 
and  one  of  the  best  citizens  the  county  ever  produced.  His  home 
was  among  the  most  noted  in  the  county  for  its  delightful  hospi- 
tality, where  the  poor  and  humble  received  the  same  courteous 
treatment  as  was  extended  to  the   richest  and  most  distinguished 

It  is  apparent  that  my  reason  for  writing  about  the  Wittens  and 
Cecils  in  one  sketch,  because  of  their  intermarrying,  is  well  founded. 
Thomas  Witten's  wife  was  Elizabeth,  the  sister  of  Samuel  Cecil. 
Three  of  her  sons,  John,  Thomas  and  James,  married  daughters  of 
her  brother  Samuel;  and  two  of  her  daughters,  Keziah  and  Ann, 
married  sons  of  her  brother,  Samuel  Cecil.  This  was  a  pretty  liberal 
exchange  in  tlie  marriage  relation  of  brothers  and  sisters  already 
closely  related  by  a  previous  marriage.  And  it  made  the  children 
of  each  twain  double  first  cousins  of  the  children  of  all  the  other 
twains.     By  blood  they  were  practically  brothers  and  sisters. 

John  Greenup,  who  married  Elizabeth,  the  eldest  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Elizabeth  Witten,  remained  with  his  family  in  Taze- 
well only  a  brief  while  after  the  county  was  organized.  He  had 
two  grown  sons,  Thomas  and  Christopher,  when  the  county  was 
formed.  When  the  count}'  court,  at  its  December  term,  1800,  recom- 
mended certain  citizens  to  the  governor  of  Virginia  for  appointment 
as  officers  of  the  militia,  Thomas  Greenup  was  named  as  one  of  the 
captains  of  the  2nd  Battalion  of  the  112th  Regiment. 

In  1801,  John  Greenup  and  his  family,  including  Thomas  and 
Christopher,  moved  to  Kentucky.  The  GreenujDS  became  prominent 
in  the  affairs  of  the  State;  and  in  1804,  Christopher  Greenup  was 
made  governor.  He  was  inaugurated  June  1st,  1804,  and  served 
the  State  four  years  as  its  Chief  Executive.  He  was  so  highly 
esteemed  as  a  citizen  that  a  splendid  county  in  the  Bluegrass  State 
was  given  his  name.  GreenujD  County  borders  on  the  Ohio  below 
the  mouth  of  Big  Sandy  River. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  407 

THE   BOWENS  OF  TAZEWELL. 

Rees  Bowen  was  the  second  white  man  who  brought  his  family 
to  make  permanent  residence  in  tlie  Clinch  Valley.  Therefore  it  is 
meet  that  he  and  his  family  should  be  the  second  considered  in  the 
sketches  I  am  writing  of  the  pioneer  families. 

The  Tazewell  Bowens  are  of  Celtic  blood.  Their  immediate 
ancestor  was  Moses  Bowen,  a  Welchman,  who  married  Rebecca 
Rees.  They  came  from  Wales  to  America  a  good  many  years  before 
the  Revolution,  and  settled  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania. 
Their  son  John  was  a  Quaker,  and  he  married  Lily  Mcllhany.  He 
and  his  wife  moved  from  Pennsylvania  to  Augusta  County,  Virginia, 
soon  after  the  first  settlements  were  made  in  the  Shenandoah  Val- 
ley, perhaps  as  early  as  the  year  1732;  and  located  in  that  part  of 
Augusta  now  embraced  in  the  county  of  Rockbridge.  They  had 
twelve  children  and  Rees  was  one  of  their  five  sons.  He  married 
Louisa  Smith,  whose  parents  then  lived  in  that  section  of  Augusta 
now  known  as  Rockingham  Coimty.  It  is  said  that,  after  his  mar- 
riage, he  took  up  his  abode  on  the  Roanoke  River  close  to  where 
the  city  of  Roanoke  is  now  situated. 

In  some  way  Rees  Bowen  learned  of  the  fertile  lands  and  abund- 
ance of  game  that  could  be  found  in  the  Upper  Clinch  Valley;  and 
he  concluded  to  abandon  his  home  on  the  Roanoke  River  and  settle 
in  this  region,  where  he  could  locate  and  occupy,  without  cost,  a 
large  boundary  of  fine  unoccupied  land.  It  is  known  from  tradition 
that  when  he  arrived  with  his  family  in  the  vincinity  of  the  great 
spring,  to  which  he  gave  a  peculiar  name,  he  had  not  then  selected 
the  boundary  of  land  upon  which  he  would  settle.  After  they  went 
into  camp,  on  the  evening  of  the  day  he  reached  the  place  that  has 
since  been  the  home  of  the  Bowens,  he  went  out  to  find  and  kill  a 
deer  to  get  a  supplv  of  fresh  meat.  While  thus  engaged  he  dis- 
covered the  spring.  Bickley  thus  tells  of  the  discovery  of  the 
immense  fountain  and  what  followed: 

"When  Mr.  Bowen  first  saw  the  spring,  he  discovered  a  fine 
young  female  deer,  feeding  on  the  moss  within  the  orifice  from 
which  gushes  the  spring.  He  shot  it,  and  when  he  went  to  get  his 
deer,  saw  a  pair  of  elk  horns  standing  on  their  points,  and  leaning 
against  the  rocks.  Mr.  Bowen  was  a  very  large  and  tall  man,  yet 
he  had  no  difiiculty  in  walking  upright  under  the  horns.     Ht  chose 


408 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


this  place  for  his,  and  the  spring  and  river  have  since  been  known 
as  Maiden  Spring  and  Fork." 

The  first  four  years  after  he  and  his  family  located  at  Maiden 
Spring  were  free  from  any  hostile  demonstrations  by  the  Indians 
against  the  Clinch  settlements.  He  was  possessed  of  great  physical 
strength  and  was  very  industrious,  and  in  the  four  years  he  erected 


General  Rees  T.  Bowon,  grandson  of  Lieutenant  Rees  Bowen,  was 
born  at  Maiden  Spring  January  lOth,  1809,  and  died  August  29th, 
1879.  He  was  made  a  brigadier  general  of  militia  by  Governor  Henry 
A.  Wise  in  1856;  and  represented  Tazewell  County  in  the  Virginia 
House  of  Delegates  in  1863-1864.  General  Bowen  was  elected  by  the 
Consei'vative  party  to  represent  the  Ninth  District  in  the  Forty-third 
Congress;  and  sensed  in  that  body  from  December  1st,  1873,  to  March 
3rd,  1875.  He  was  the  first  citizen  of  Tazewell  County  that  served 
in  the  National  Legislature. 

a  large  and  strong  log  house,  extended  his  clearings  into  the  forests 
and  added  considerably  to  the  number  of  horses  and  cattle  he 
brought  with  him  from  his  home  on  the  Roanoke.  Then  came 
trouble  with  the  Ohio  Indians,  in  1773,  when  the  whole  frontier 
of  Virginia  was  threatened  by  the  red  men;  and  Rees  Bowen  built 
a  heavy  stockade  around  his  dwelling,  converting  it  into  an  excellent 
neighborhood  fort. 

In  the  meantime,  his  four  brothers,  John,  Arthur,  William  and 
Moses  had  moved  out  from  Augusta  to  find  homes  in  the  country 
west  o^  New  River.     John  settled  at  some  point  in  the  Holston 


and  Southwest  Virginia  409 

Valley;  Arthur  located  in  the  present  Smyth  County,  four  miles 
west  of  INIarion;  and  William  and  Moses  took  up  their  abode  in 
the  Clinch  Valley,  but  in  what  immediate  locality  is  now  unkno\vn. 
When  Dunmore's  War  came  on  the  three  brothers,  Rees,  William 
and  Moses,  went  with  Captain  William  Russell's  company  on  the 
Lewis  expedition  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  River;  and  were 
prominent  fi^ires  in  the  eventful  battle  at  Point  Pleasant.  Moses 
Bowen  was  then  only  twenty  years  old;  and  on  the  return  march 
from  the  Kanawha  he  was  stricken  with  smallpox,  from  which 
frightful  malady  he  died  in  the  wilderness. 

After  his  return  from  Point  Pleasant,  for  two  years  Rees  Bowen, 
like  all  the  pioneer  settlers,  was  actively  engaged  in  clearing  up 
fields  from  the  forest  and  increasing  the  comforts  of  his  new  home. 
While  thus  occupied  the  war  between  the  colonies  and  Great  Britain 
began;  and  the  British  Government  turned  the  Western  Indians 
loose  on  the  Virginia  frontiers.  This  caused  the  organization  of  a 
company  of  militia,  expert  Indian  fighters,  in  the  Clinch  Valley. 
The  two  Bowen  brothers  were  members  of  the  company,  William 
being  captain,  and  Rees,  lieutenant.  This  company,  composed  of 
pioneers,  did  effective  service  for  the  protection  of  the  settlers  in 
the  Clinch  and  the  Holston  valleys. 

When  Colonels  Shelby  and  Sevier,  in  the  fall  of  1780,  appealed 
to  Colonel  William  Campbell  to  join  them  in  the  expedition  to 
King's  Mountain,  with  a  volunteer  force  from  Washington  County, 
Virginia,  the  comj^any  from  Clinch  Valley  volunteered  to  go.  Owing 
to  illness  from  a  serious  attack  of  fever,  Captain  William  Bowen 
was  unable  to  lead  his  men  on  the  expedition,  and  the  command  of 
the  company  devolved  upon  Lieutenant  Rees  Bowen.  He  marched 
with  liis  company  and  joined  Campbell  at  Wolf  Hill  (now  Abing- 
don), and  thence  on  to  the  Carolinas,  and  gave  his  life  for  American 
freedom,  while  leading  his  men  in  the  memorable  battle  at  King's 
Mountain. 

The  widow  of  the  pioneer  hero,  Louisa  Bowen,  bravely  accepted 
the  responsibility  of  rearing  eight  orphan  children,  none  of  whom 
had  reached  their  majority.  A  chart  of  the  Bowen  family,  which 
I  have  before  me,  shows  that  these  children  were:  John,  Rees, 
Nancy,  Margaret,  Rebecca,  Lily,  Louisa  and  Henry  Bowen.  The 
chart  does  not  disclose  anything  in  connection  with  John,  the  first 
mentioned  among  the  children  of  Rees  and  Louisa  Bowen.     Rees, 


410  History  of  Tazewell  County 

the  second,  marx'ied  his  cousin  Rebecca,  daughter  of  John  Bowen, 
who  had  established  himself  in  the  Holston  Valley ;  Nancy  married 
Major  John  Ward,  who  was  the  first  clerk  of  Tazewell  County,  and 
a  son  of  David  Ward  the  pioneer  neighbor  of  Lieutenant  Rees 
Bowen;  Margaret  married  Thomas  Gillespie,  the  first  Gillespie  to 

settle   in   Tazewell   County;    Rebecca   married Duff;   Lily 

married    Hildrith,    of    Kentucky;    Louisa    married    John 

Thompson;  and  Henry  married  Elen  Tate,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Tate,  and  a  neice  of  General  William  Campbell.  Rees,  the  second, 
died  without  issue;  and  Henry  and  Ella  Bowen  (nee  Tate)  were 
the  progenitors  of  all  the  Bowens  who  have  since  lived  in  Tazewell 
County.  Their  two  sons  were  General  Rees  T.  Bowen  and  Colonel 
Henry  S.  Bowen.  General  Bowen  was  distinguished  in  civil  life 
and  was  a  brigadier  general  of  militia  before  the  Civil  War.  Colonel 
Bowen  was  the  gallant  commander  of  a  regiment  of  cavalry  that  did 
splendid  service  for  the  Confederacy. 

THE    WARD    FAMILY. 

From  the  descendants  of  David  Ward,  who  are  now  living  in 
Tazewell  County,  I  have  been  able  to  procure  but  very  little  infor- 
mation about  their  worthy  ancestor.  He  was  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent and  useful  of  the  pioneer  settlers ;  and  I  have  fortvmately  found 
enough  in  the  records  of  the  county  and  certain  publications  to 
enable  me  to  make  proper  notice  of  a  man  who  had  much  to  do  with 
giving  stability  to  the  Clinch  Valley  settlements,  and  the  creation 
and  organization  of  Tazewell  County. 

The  Wards  were  of  Scotch-Irish  blood;  and  came  to  America 
from  Ulster  during  the  great  exodus  from  Ireland  that  took  place 
early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  William  Ward,  the  immediate 
ancestor  of  the  Wards  of  Tazewell  County,  about  1730  left  Ireland 
and  settled  in  Pennsylvania.  From  that  province  he  migrated  to 
the  Valley  of  Virginia,  and  fixed  his  home  in  the  present  Augusta 
County  where  the  village  of  Greenville  is  now  located,  about  ten 
miles  west  of  the  city  of  Staunton.  There  he  passed  the  remainder 
of  his  life  and  reared  a  family.  In  the  year  1769,  two  of  his  sons, 
David  and  William,  heard  of  the  sjDlendid  country  now  known  as 
Southwest  Virginia,  and  they  migrated  to  this  section.  William 
settled  in  the  Black  Lick  in  the  present  Wythe  County;  and  David 


and  Southwest  Virginia  411 

travelled  on  to  the  Clinch  Valley  and  located  in  the  Cove,  on  the 
place  where  his  great-great-grandson,  George  Ward,  now  lives. 

David  Ward  thus  was  made  a  neighbor  of  Rees  Bowen,  and  he 
at  once  became  a  conspicuous  figaire  among  the  frontiersmen,  because 
of  his  intelligence  and  excellent  courage.  He  was  known  as  one  of 
the  best  Indian  fighters  on  the  Clinch,  and  was  a  member  of  Captain 
Russell's  company  that  participated  in  the  battle  at  Point  Pleasant. 
When  the  Revolution  began  he  became  a  member  of  the  militia 
company  of  which  William  Bowen  was  captain;  and  went  to  King's 
Mountain  with  Rees  Bowen,  where  he  fought  with  Campbell's  rifle- 
men from  the  Holston  and  Clinch  valleys. 

After  Russell  County  was  formed,  David  Ward  was  made  a  jus- 
tice of  the  peace  for  that  county.  Wlien  the  county  of  Tazewell 
was  erected  he  became,  by  operation  of  statute  law,  a  justice  of  the 
peace  of  this  county;  and  he  was  the  first  presiding  justice  of  the 
county  court.  His  son,  John,  was  made  the  first  county  clerk  of 
Tazewell.  David  Ward  was  chosen,  along  with  Thomas  Witten, 
Jr.,  to  represent  the  county  in  the  House  of  Delegates  at  the  ses- 
sions of  1801-02,  and  1802-03;  and  represented  the  county  again  at 
the  sessions  of  1809-10  and  1810-11.  His  son,  John,  also  repre- 
sented the  county  in  the  same  legislative  body  at  the  sessions  of 
1812-13,  1813-14,  1814-15;  and  1825-26. 

John  Ward  married  Nancy  Bowen,  and  had  a  very  large  family, 
in  all  ten  children,  as  follows:  Levicie,  married  William  Barns; 
Jane,  married  Robert  Gillespie;  Rebecca,  married  William  Craw- 
ford; Lily,  married  John  Hill;  Nancy,  married  Hargrave; 

Henry,  married  Sallie  Wilson;  Rees,  married  Levicie  Richardson; 
Rufus,  married  Elizabeth  Wilson;  David  and  John  never  married. 

THE    MOORES    OF    ABb's    VALLEY. 

Bickley  says  that  Captain  James  Moore  settled  in  Abb's  Valley 
in  1772,  but  I  am  satisfied  he  moved  there  as  early  as  1770.  Bickley 
relied  on  tradition  to  such  an  extent  that  he  is  at  fault  in  fixing  most 
of  the  dates  in  connection  with  the  settlements  in  the  present  Taze- 
well County. 

The  Moores  were  of  the  Scotch-Irish  people  who  lived  in  Ulster. 
James  Moore,  the  immediate  ancestor  of  the  Moore's  of  Abb's  Val- 
ley, left  Ireland  in  1726,  and  settled  in  Chester  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania.    He  married  Jane  Walker,  daughter  of  John  Walker,  who 


412  History  of  Tazewell  County 

was  one  of  the  Scotch-Irish  emigrants  that  came  from  Ireland  and 
settled  in  Pennsylvania.  After  his  marriage  to  Jane  Walker,  James 
Moore  and  his  father-in-law  moved  with  their  families  from  Penn- 
sylvania to  Rockbridge  County,  Virginia,  then  a  part  of  Augusta 
County,  and  settled  near  the  Jump  Mountain.  There  Moore  reared 
a  family  of  five  sons  and  five  daughters.  The  sixth  child  and  the 
second  son  of  the  James  Moore,  of  Rockbridge,  was  Captain  James 
Moore,  who  was  killed  b}'  the  Indians  in  Abb's  Valley.  Captain 
Moore  married  Martha  Poage,  whose  parents  then  lived  in  Augusta, 
on  the  road  between  the  Natural  Bridge  and  the  present  town  of 
Lexington.  After  their  marriage  they  lived  for  several  years  on  the 
same  road,  at  a  place  which  was  subsequently  known  as  Newel's 
Tavern. 

Absalom  Looney,  a  kinsman  of  James  Moore,  came  to  this  sec- 
tion of  Virginia  prior  to  1770,  on  a  hunting  expedition;  and  also 
for  the  purpose  of  digging  ginseng,  which  was,  even  at  that  time, 
very  valuable  for  exportation  to  China  and  other  Asiatic  countries. 
He  discovered  the  vallej'^  which  has  since  been  called  Abb's  Valley, 
and  remained  there  for  more  than  a  year,  living  in  a  cave  to  escape 
discovery  by  the  Indians.  When  Looney  returned  to  Rockbridge 
he  told  James  Moore  of  the  rich  lands  and  abundance  of  game  that 
he  saw  in  the  valley.  This  so  impressed  Moore  that  he  made  an 
exploring  tour  to  the  place,  and  found  it  as  described  by  Looney, 
"the  very  paradise  of  the  hunter  and  grazier."  He  was  a  breeder 
of  fine  horses  and  saw  that  the  abundance  of  bluegrass  would  sus- 
tain a  large  herd,  and  this,  together  with  other  attractions,  induced 
him  to  arrange  for  moving  his  family  there.  The  author  of  "The 
Captives  of  Abbs  Valley,"  who  was  a  grandson  of  James  Moore, 
says  in  his  Legend  of  Frontier  Life : 

"In  making  his  arrangements  to  take  his  family  there,  he  went 
out  in  the  spring  accompanied  by  some  labourers,  built  a  cabin, 
planted  a  crop,  and  left  an  Englishman  named  Simpson,  who  had 
been  an  indentured  servant  in  his  family  and  was  then  free,  but  still 
remained  in  his  employment,  to  cultivate  the  crop  and  enclose  more 
land  during  the  summer." 

In  the  fall  of  1770,  James  Moore  moved  his  family  out  and  fixed 
his  residence  at  the  place  where  the  massacre  of  himself  and  other 
members  of  the  family  afterwards  occurred.     The  place  has  ever 


and  Southwest  Virginia  413 

since  remained  in  the  possession  of  his  descendants,  and  is  now 
owned  by  his  great-grandson,  Oscar  Moore.  Captain  Moore  was 
accompanied  by  his  brother-in-law,  Robert  Poage,  the  latter,  with 
his  family,  locating  about  one  mile  from  the  Moores.  Poage  re- 
mained but  a  few  years  in  the  valley.  When  the  Indians  began  to 
attack  the  settlements  in  1774  he  moved  back  to  Rockbridge.  This 
left  the  IVIoores  completely  isolated,  their  nearest  neighbor  being  ten 
miles  distant  from  them. 

Captain  Moore,  though  aware  of  the  dangers  that  threatened 
him  and  his  family  from  attacks  by  the  Indians,  resolved  to  remain 
in  the  valley  and  face  the  dangers.  When  he  came  there  with  his 
family  he  brought  out  horses  and  cattle  for  breeding  purposes, 
intending  to  pursue  the  life  of  a  grazier  and  breeder  of  fine  stock. 
He  found  some  parts  of  the  valley  comparatively  free  of  forest 
growth,  and  on  these  open  spots  bluegrass  and  wild  pea  vine  grew 
in  luxurious  abundance.  In  the  summer  time  his  horses  and  cattle 
would  feed  and  fatten  upon  the  summer  growth  of  herbage,  and 
even  in  the  winter  time  they  required  but  little  feeding,  as  there  was 
an  abundance  of  lodged  grass  to  keep  them  in  good  condition.  His 
horses  and  cattle  increased  rapidly  in  numbers,  and  at  the  time 
he  was  killed  he  had  more  than  a  hundred  fine  horses. 

With  the  purpose  of  averting  any  probable  danger  from  attacks 
by  the  Indians,  Captain  Moore  converted  his  cabin  into  a  block- 
house. The  doors  were  made  of  heavy  timber,  too  thick  for  a  rifle 
ball  to  penetrate,  and  were  secured  with  heavy  bars  for  inside 
fastenings.  The  windows  were  small  and  placed  high  in  the  walls, 
and  had  heavy  wooden  shutters,  that  could  be  quickly  closed..  Like 
all  other  frontier  houses,  this  was  equipped  with  loop-holes  through 
which  riflemen  on  the  inside  could  shoot  at  the  attacking  enemy. 

Ownership  of  the  entire  Abb's  Valley  was  one  of  the  fond  aspi- 
rations of  Captain  Moore,  With  this  in  view,  he  secured  all  the 
land  he  could  under  settlers'  laws  then  in  existence  in  Virginia,  and 
formulated  plans  for  acquiring  the  balance  of  the  valley  by  pur- 
chase. It  is  said  that  he  was  about  to  bring  his  cherished  plans  to 
a    successful  conclusion  when  he  was  killed  by  the  Indians. 

The  eager  purpose  of  this  brave  pioneer  to  acquire  a  splendid 
estate  to  bequeath  to  his  children  did  not,  however,  deter  him  from 
a  full  performance  of  his  duties  as  a  frontier  citizen  and  soldier. 
His  worth  was  recognized  by  both  the  civil  and  military  authorities, 


414  History  of  Tazewell  County 

and  he  quickly  became  a  leader  among  the  hardy  pioneers  who  were 
industriously  engaged  in  converting  the  wilderness  regions  of  Taze- 
well into  an  agricultural  and  grazing  country  that  would  be  sur- 
passed in  excellence  by  none  on  this  continent. 

James  Moore  served  as  a  jDrivate  in  the  army  that  Colonel 
Andrew  Lewis  marched  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  in  the  fall  of 
1774,  and  did  his  part  in  winning  victoi*y  for  the  Virginians  at  the 
battle  of  Point  Pleasant.  He  was  commissioned  captain  of  a  com- 
pany of  militia  "on  the  waters  of  Bluestone"  on  the  3rd  of  April, 
1778;  and  in  1781  he  led  this  company,  which  went  with  the  rifle- 
men from  Montgomery  and  Washington,  under  command  of  Colonel 
William  Campbell,  to  the  relief  of  General  Greene  in  North  Carolina. 
In  the  battle  of  Guilford  Court  House,  Captain  Moore,  with  his 
mountaineer  riflemen,  met  the  first  charge  of  the  British  infantry; 
and  he  and  his  men  won  great  distinction  by  their  wonderful  cour- 
age and  superior  marksmanship. 

But  three  of  Captain  Moore's  children,  James,  Mary  and  Joseph, 
escaped  death  at  the  hands  of  the  Indians.  The  latter  was  not  in 
Abb's  Valley  at  the  time  the  dreadful  tragedy  was  enacted.  A 
short  time  prior  to  the  raid  made  by  the  Shawnees,  Joseph  had 
gone  with  his  father  to  Rockbridge  to  visit  his  grandfather  Poage. 
He  became  sick  with  measles  and  his  father  had  to  return  to  Abb's 
Valley  without  him.  When  James  and  Mary  returned  from  cap- 
tivity they  found  Joseph  at  their  grandfather's  in  Rockbridge. 

James  Moore,  Jr.,  was  captured  in  1781  and  remained  in  cap- 
tivity until  the  fall  of  1789.  In  tlie  spring  of  1790,  he  and  his  sister 
Mary  arrived  at  their  grandfather's  in  Rockbridge.  On  the  16th  of 
February,  1797,  James  married  Barbara  Taylor  of  Rockbridge, 
and  very  soon  thereafter  moved  with  his  wife  to  Abb's  Valley  and 
settled  upon  the  lands  where  his  father  had  formerly  lived.  He 
had  three  children  by  his  first  wife,  James  Ruliford,  born  in  1799; 
Martha  Poage,  born  in  1800;  and  William  Taylor,  born  in  1802. 
Mrs.  Moore  died  in  1802,  shortly  after  the  birth  of  her  son  William. 

James  Ruliford  Moore  moved  to  Texas  with  his  family  after 
that  State  was  admitted  to  the  Union.  Martha  married  Rev.  Still, 
who  in  1824  went  to  Kansas  as  a  missionary  to  work  among  the 
Indians. 

William  Taylor  Moore  settled  at  the  place  in  Abb's  Valley 
where  his  grandfather  was  killed  in  1786.     He  married  twice  and 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


415 


liad  children  by  each  wife.  His  first  wife  was  Matilda  Peery, 
daughter  of  George  Peery;  and  his  second  wife  was  Mary  Barns, 
daughter  of  William  Barns,  of  the  Cove. 

Joseph  Moore,  son  of  Captain  James  Moore,  married  Rhoda 
Nicewander,  of  Rockbridge.  He  moved  out  to  Tazewell  in  1797, 
and  settled  in  Wrights  Valley,  near  where  the  present  Bailey's 
Station  on  the  Clinch  Valley  Railroad  is  now  situated.  He  had  one 
son,  Harvey,  and  six  daughters,  Mattie,  Mary  Brown,  Rhoda,  Cyn^- 


William  Moore,  son  of  James  Moore,  the  captive,  was  bom  in 
March,  1802,  and  died  in  December,  1894.  He  was  one  of  the  best 
men  Tazewell  County  ever  produced. 

thia,  Julia  and  Nancy.  Harvey  married  his  cousin  Jane  Moore, 
who  after  she  became  a  widow  married  Charles  Tiffany.  She  was 
a  daughter  of  James  Moore,  the  captive,  by  his  second  marriage. 
Mattie  married  her  cousin,  Joseph  A.  Moore;  Mary  Brown  married 
William  Shannon;  and  Rhoda  married  Elias  Hale.  Three  of  the 
daughters,  Cynthia,  Julia  and  Nancy  died  unmarried. 

Joseph  Moore  remained  with  his  grandfather  while  his  brother, 
James,  and  sister,  Mary,  were  in  captivity  for  nearly  six  years, 
and  during  that  time  had  excellent  opportunity  to  obtain  a  liberal 
education,  as  there  were  good  schools  in  the  vicinity  of  Mr.  Poage's. 
Hence,  when  he  settled  in  Wright's  Valley  he  was  far  better 
educated  than  most  of  the  men  of  his  age  then  living  in  the  bounds 


416  History  of  Tazewell  County 

of  the  present  Tazewell  County.  He  was  a  skillful  surveyor  and 
an  excellent  scribe. 

When  the  county  seat  was  located  he  laid  the  town  off  in  lots ; 
and  was  made  deputy  clerk  of  the  county  court  shortly  after  it 
was  organized.  Hundreds  of  his  descendants  are  now  residents  of 
the  county. 

When  Captain  Moore  and  his  family  were  massacred  he  had  a 
splendid  herd  of  about  one  himdred  horses.  A  number  of  them 
were  colts  of  Yorick^  the  Arabian  stallion.  Joseph  Moore,  a 
brother  of  the  Captain,  was  then  living  in  Kentucky.     He  came  to 


Rose,  a  gray  mare  29  years  old  in  1918,  and  the  last  knowTi  direct 
descendant  of  the  famous  stallion  "Yorick"  owned  by  Capt.  James 
Moore  when  the  Indians  massacred  the  Moore  family.  Yorrick  killed 
three  of  the  Indians  who  tried  to  ride  him,  and  was  killed  by  the 
Indians  when  they  failed  to  subdue  him.  The  boy  sitting  on  the  mare 
is  Oscar  Moore,  Jr.,  and  is  the  great-great-grandson  of  Capt.  James 
Moore.  The  photograph  of  boy  and  mare  was  taken  near  the  spot  of 
the  massacre  of  the  Moores. 

Virginia  and  administered  upon  the  estate  of  his  deceased  brother. 
When  he  returned  to  his  home,  he  took  a  number  of  the  horses  from 
Abb's  Valley,  and  disposed  of  them  in  Kentucky.  It  has  been  told, 
and  it  is  a  fact,  that  the  colts  of  Yorrick  had  much  to  do  with  the 
production  of  the  fine  strain  of  horses  from  which  Kentucky  after- 
wards became  famous.  Some  of  Yorrick's  colts  were  left  in  Abb's 
Valley.  Above  is  shown  the  picture  of  a  gray  mare.  She  was  29 
years  old  when  the  photograph  was  made,  and  is  the  last  known 
direct  descendant  of  Yorrick.     The  mare  is  o^vned  by  Mr.  O.  B. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  417 

Moore,  and  the  little  boy  seated  on  the  mare  is  Oscar  Moore,  Jr., 
the  son  of  O.  B.  Moore.  The  pliotograph  of  the  mare  was  taken 
on  the  grounds  of  the  Moore  homestead  near  where  the  massacre  of 
the  Moore  family  occurred. 

THE   HARMANS   OF   TAZEWELL. 

One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  I  have  encountered  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  these  sketches  was  in  correctly  distinguishing  the  several 
families  of  Harmans  who  were  among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the 
Clinch  Valley.  There  are  many  persons  with  the  name  Harman, 
who  are  descendants  of  the  pioneers  of  that  name,  now  living  in 
this  county;  but  they  have  furnished  me  with  no  family  records 
from  which  1  can  draw  any  definite  conclusions.  Therefore,  in 
writing  about  the  pioneers  of  that  name,  I  am  compelled  to  rely 
for  information  upon  the  records  that  exist  in  the  county  clerk's 
office,  and  such  facts  as  I  have  found  in  various  histories,  together 
with  my  personal  acquaintance  with  these  people  for  more  than  half 
a  century. 

The  Harmans  came  to  America  from  Germany.  Some  of  them 
settled  in  Pennsylvania,  but  those  from  whom  most  of  the  Tazewell 
Harmans  are  descended  settled  in  North  Carolina,  near  the  present 
town  of  Salem  in  that  State. 

The  first  Harmans  that  appear  in  the  annals  of  this  section  were 
Adam  Harman  and  his  two  sons,  who  were  living  on  New  River  in 
1755  at  the  site  of  the  present  Eggleston's  Springs,  in  Giles  County. 
They  were  the  men  who  discovered  Mrs.  Mary  Ingles,  after  her 
thrilling  escape  from  the  Shawnee  Indians,  as  she  was  making  her 
way  back  to  Draper's  Meadows,  an  account  of  which  is  given  in 
a  preceding  chapter  of  this  book.  Adam  Harman  first  settled  in 
Pennsylvania  after  he  came  to  America,  and  from  thence  came  to 
New  River,  by  way  of  the  Shenandoah  and  James  River  valleys. 
He  was  a  kinsman,  possibly  a  first  cousin,  of  the  three  brothers, 
Mathias,  Henry  and  Jacob  Harman,  who  settled  in  1771  about  one 
and  half  miles  east  of  the  town  of  Tazewell,  on  the  lands  now  owned 
by  the  heirs  of  the  late  Captain  Wm.  E.  Peery. 

Bickley  says  that  another  Jacob  Harman  settled  on  Bluestone 
Creek  in  1772.  Thwaites,  in  his  Dunmore's  War,  says:  "Jacob 
Harman  who  settled  on  Bluestone,  in  1771,  probably  was  of  the 
family  of  Adam,  one  of  the  early  pioneers  of  New  River."     Captain 

TH.-27. 


418  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Dan  Smith,  who  in  1774  was  in  command  of  all  the  militia  forces 
and  military  defences  on  the  frontier  from  Elk  Garden  to  the 
Bluestone  River,  reported  to  Colonel  Preston  that,  througli  fear  of 
the  Indians,  Jacob  Harman  had  moved  his  family  "into  the  New 
River  Settlement."  Captain  Smith  also  reported  that,  upon  the 
recommendation  of  Thomas  Maxwell,  he  had  apjjointed  one  Israel 
Harman  to  act  as  a  scout  down  Sandy  Creek.  These  are  all  of  the 
Harmans  I  find  that  came  with  the  first  settlers  to  the  Clinch  Valley. 

Henry  Harman,  who  settled  on  the  Clinch  east  of  the  town  of 
Tazewell  in  1771,  had  two  sons,  George  and  Mathias  that  were 
noted  as  hunters  and  Indian  fighters.  They  were  with  their  father 
in  1774  when  he  had  his  terrific  encounter  with  seven  Shawnees  on 
Tug  River.  A  graphic  account  of  this  encounter,  taken  from  Bick- 
ley's  History  of  Tazewell  County,  is  published  elsewhere  in  this 
history.  Captain  Henry,  as  he  was  afterwards  known,  received  two 
severe  wounds  from  arrows  shot  by  an  Indian  in  the  battle  on  Tug 
River.  When  struck  in  the  breast  with  an  arrow,  Harman  fell,  and 
the  Indians  believed  they  had  killed  him.  They  subsequently 
boasted  to  whites,  whom  they  had  made  captives,  that  they  had 
killed  "Old  Skygusty,"  a  name  they  had  given  the  old  man,  for  some 
unknown  reason. 

Captain  Henry  Harman  had  another  son,  Henry  Harman,  Jr., 
who  came  to  Tazewell  with  his  father  in  1771,  and  was  then  only 
nine  years  old.  When  he  reached  manhood  he  married  and  built 
him  a  home  two  miles  northeast  of  Tazewell.  The  place  was  after- 
wards known  as  the  "John  G.  Watts  Place."  The  act  passed  in 
December,  1799,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  creating  the 
county  of  Tazewell,  directed  that  the  first  term  of  the  county  court 
should  be  held  "at  the  house  of  Henry  Harman,  Junior,"  and  this 
mandate  was  complied  with.  The  late  David  Harold  Peery,  of 
Ogden,  Utah,  a  grandson  of  Henry  Harman,  Jr.,  in  May,  1895, 
wrote  a  letter  to  a  lady  relative  who  was  seeking  infonnation  about 
the  Harman  family;  and  from  that  letter  the  following  paragraphs 
are  copied: 

"Henry  Harman,  Jr.,  my  grandfather,  was  born  in  North  Caro- 
lina in  1762,  and  came  to  Tazewell  with  his  father  in  1771,  and 
married  my  grandmother,  Christina  Harman,  his  cousin,  a  daughter 
of  David  Harman.  Grandmother  Christina  Harman  died  in  1835. 
My  grandfather,  Henry  Harman,  built  a  large  double  log  liouse  in 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


419 


which  the  first  court  of  the  county  (Tazewell)  was  held,  in  1800. 
He  was  a  very  large  man,  weighing  over  300  pounds,  and  6  feet 
2  inches  in  height.  To  get  him  out  of  the  house  after  he  died  they 
had  to  take  the  door  and  facing  out.  He  was  a  man  of  great  intel- 
lect, honorable  and  high-minded;  and  left  an  immense  estate  of 
lands,  negroes  and  stock.  He  married  my  grandmother,  Christma 
Harman,  in  1784,  and  he  died  in  1808,  honored,  loved  and  respected 

by  all. 

"The  names  of  their  children  are  as  follows:  Eleanor,  my  mother, 
who    married    David    Peery;    Daniel;    Rhoda,    who    married    John 


Major  David  Peery  was  one  of  the  first  generations  born  m  the 
present  bounds  of  Tazewell  County.  He  w^as  the  son  of  John  Feery, 
who  settled  near  the  forks  of  Clinch  River  in  1772.  Major  Peery  was 
an  excellent  man  and  popular  citizen.  He  was  bom  in  1777,  the  second 
year  of  the  Revolution,  and  died  in  1862. 

Gillespie;  Malvina,  who  married  Alexander  Harrison;  Nancy,  who 
married  Hezekiah  Harman,  Jr. ;  Letitia,  who  married  Addison 
Crockett;  Henry  Wilburn  Harman;  Christina,  who  married  Samuel 
Laird." 

The  David  Harman  mentioned  by  Mr.  Peery  may  have  been 
a  brother  of  Henry  Harman,  Sr. ;  and  he  must  have  resided  else- 
where than  in  Clinch  Valley,  as  Bickley  makes  no  mention  of  him. 
It  is  very  evident  that  most  of  the  Harmans  now  living  in  Tazewell 
County  are  direct  descendants  of  the  three  brothers,  Henry,  Matbias 


420  History  of  Tazewell  County 

and  Jacob,  who  settled  on  the  Clinch  in  1771;  and  of  Jacob  and 
Israel  Harman,  who  were  living  on  Bluestone  in  1774. 

THE  PEERYS  IN  TAZEWELL. 

Several  of  the  pioneers  bore  the  name  Peery ;  and  they  were 
not  only  valuable  co-workers  with  the  Clinch  Valley  settlers  in 
the  pioneer  days,  but  they  and  their  descendants  since  the  organi- 
zation of  Tazewell  Countj'^  have  been  rated  among  the  most  worthy 
and  useful  citizens.  The  Peerys  were  of  the  Scotch-Irish  blood 
and  came  to  Pennsylvania  during  the  great  exodus  of  these  people 
from  Ulster.  From  Pennsylvania  they  moved  to  Augusta  County, 
Virginia.  The  Peerys  who  settled  in  the  Clinch  Valley  in  1772,  or 
1773,  were  all  born  in  that  county. 

In  1773,  Thomas,  William  and  George,  who  were  brothers, 
moved  from  Augusta  County  to  what  is  now  Tazewell  County. 
They  were  sons  of  Thomas  Peery  and  were  raised  on  Back  Creek 
near  Staunton,  Virginia.  Thomas  settled  a  short  distance  west  of 
the  present  town  of  Tazewell  near  the  place  where  his  son,  Harvey 
G.  Peery,  afterwards  lived,  and  which  is  still  owned  and  occupied 
by  his  grandson,  Squire  George  Peerj'^ ;  William  fixed  his  home  at 
or  near  the  place  where  the  residence  of  the  late  Albert  P.  Gillespie 
now  stands;  and  George  settled  in  Abb's  Valley.  Each  of  these 
brothers  kept  their  homes  at  the  place  they  first  located  until  they 
died. 

Thomas  Peery  married  Margaret  Dennis  and  they  raised  a 
family  of  eleven  children,  six  sons  and  five  daughters.  They  were: 
Jonathan,  James,  William,  Thomas  (Burke's  Garden),  Joseph, 
Harvey  George,  Mary,  Rebecca,  Permelia,  Eleanor  and  Nancy. 
There  are  hundreds  of  their  descendants  now  living  in  Tazewell 
County  and  adjoining  counties,  with  many  living  in  other  States 
of  the  Union.  Harvey  George  Peery,  one  of  the  sons  of  Thomas 
and  Margaret  Peery,  represented  the  county  of  Tazewell  in  the 
Virginia  House  of  Delegates  ^t  the  session  of  1844  and  1845, 

William  Peery  married  Sallie  Evans,  a  sister  of  Jesse  Evans, 
whose  children  were  massacred  by  the  Indians  in  1779,  at  the  old 
Buse  Harman  place,  just  west  of  the  divide  at  Tiptop,  When  the 
county  of  Tazewell  was  created,  William  Peery  gave  thirteen  acres 
of  land  for  the  county  seat;  and  the  public  buildings — court  house 
and  jail — were  erected  thereon.  During  the  Revolutionary  War  he 
did  valiant  service  for  his  country  in  its  successful  struggle  against 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


421 


British  oppression.  He  accompanied  George  Rodgers  Clark  on  his 
expedition  to  Illinois;  and  was  with  Captain  James  Moore's  comr 
pany  in  General  Greene's  campaign  in  North  Carolina,  and  fought 
with  the  splendid  riflemen  from  Washington  and  Montgomery  coun- 
ties at  the  battle  of  Guilford  Court  House. 

William  Peery  had  a  large  family.     Most  of  his  children,  after 
marrying,  went  West.     He  had  five  sons,  Robert,  Evans,  George, 


Residence  of  Major  Hai-vey  George  Peery,  son  of  Tliomas  Peery, 
the  pioneer.    It  was  built  in  1838,  and  is  located  a  short  distance  west 
of  the  corporate  limits  of  Tazewell. 

Thomas,  and  Henry  Fielding— and  seven  daughters— Sophia, 
Emily,  Cosby,  Polly,  Nancy,  Olivia  and  Cynthia.  One  of  his 
daughters  married  John  Wynne,  son  of  William  Wynne.  John  built 
the  residence  where  the  late  Captain  W^m.  E.  Peery  lived,  a  mile 
and  a  half  east  of  Tazewell.  Wynne  sold  the  place  to  'Squire 
Tommie  Peery  in  1852,  and  moved  with  his  family  to  Missouri. 
Thomas  and  Dr.  Henry  Fielding  Peery,  sons  of  William,  spent  their 
entire  days  in  the  land  of  their  birth.  Thomas  was  one  of  the  most 
popular  and  useful  citizens  of  the  county.  He  was  its  representa- 
tive in  the  House  of  Delegates  at  the  sessions  1819-20  and  1823-24; 
and  he  was  a  justice  of  the  county  court  for  a  number  of  years. 
Dr.  Henry  Fielding  Peery  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  physicians 


422  History  of  Tazewell  County 

of  his  daj',  an  assiduous  student,  and  an  able  writer.  Dr.  Peery, 
because  of  his  fine  literary  attainments,  was  persuaded  to  establish 
the  first  newspaper  published  in  Tazewell,  the  Jeffersonville  Demo- 
crat; and  in  1851  he  was  the  leading  spirit  in  the  organization  of 
a  society  known  as  the  Jeffersonville  Historical  Society. 

I  have  been  unable  to  find  much  relative  to  the  family  and 
career  of  George  Peery,  the  brother  of  Thomas  and  William,  who 
settled  in  Abb's  Valley.  In  examining  the  old  records  of  Mont- 
gomery County,  I  found  in  the  Surveyors  "Entry  Book"  of  that 
county  that  in  the  year  1782  George  Peery  entered  400  acres  of 
land  on  Bluestone  Creek  between  Jno.  Davidson's  and  Jno.  Comp- 
ton's.  And  the  records  of  the  county  court  of  Tazewell  County 
show  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  first  court  held  in  June,  1800,  and 
helped  to  organize  the  county.  He  had  previously  been  a  justice 
of  the  peace  in  Wythe  County,  before  Abb's  Valley  became  a  part 
of  Tazewell,  and  by  operation  of  statute  law  was  constituted  a  jus- 
tice of  Tazewell  County.  He  was  a  beautiful  penman,  as  his  signa- 
ture to  orders  of  the  county  court  are  so  fine  as  to  attract  special 
attention.  He  raised  a  family  in  Abb's  Valley,  but  I  have  failed  to 
learn  the  number  and  names  of  his  children,  or  what  became  of  them. 

In  the  year  1773  John  Peery,  a  cousin  of  Thomas,  William  and 
George,  settled  a  short  distance  west  of  the  present  county  seat  of 
Tazewell,  near  Plum  Creek.  Two  of  his  brothers,  Solomon  and 
James,  settled  near  him  and  lived  in  the  community  for  several  years. 
Solomon  moved  with  his  family  to  some  place  on  Big  Sandy  River, 
and  James  moved  to  Tennessee.  This  John  Peery  was  sometimes 
called  "Short  Johnnie,"  to  distinguish  him  from  a  kinsman  also 
named  John,  and  who  lived  on  the  Clinch.  In  the  records  of  the 
county  court  I  find  tliat  "Short  Johnnie"  is  mentioned  as  "John 
Peery,  Distillery".  He  had  a  distillery  where  he  made  apple  and 
peach  brandy,  and  corn  whiskey.  John  and  his  son,  Thomas,  went 
with  Captain  James  Moore's  company  to  North  Carolina  in  1781, 
and  were  in  the  engagement  at  Guilford  Court  House.  Thomas,  the 
son,  was  killed  in  the  battle,  and  John,  the  father,  was  desperately 
wounded,  receiving  fifty-four  saber  cuts  that  were  inflicted  by 
Tarleton's  brutal  British  troopers  while  he  was  lying  helpless  on 
the  ground.  "Short  Johnnie"  had  a  large  family,  but  I  have  only 
the  name  of  one  in  addition  to  Thomas,  who  was  killed.  There  was 
a  son  named  John,  who  lived  on  Clear  Fork,  and  he  was  known 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


423 


as  "John  Peery,  Silversmith."     It  is  certain  that  the  Peerys  who 
lived  on  Plum  Creek  were  the  descendants  of  "Short  Johnnie." 

There  was  another  John  Peery  who  came  here  in  1773.  He 
tarried  for  a  while  on  Clear  Fork;  and  then  moved  on  to  the  Clinch, 
where  he  settled  permanently  near  the  fork  of  the  river,  one  and  a 
half  miles  northeast  of  the  present  county  seat.  There  he  acquired 
a  large  boundary  of  land,  which  is  considered  by  many  persons  the 
most  valuable  per  acre  of  any  now  in  the  county. 


This  was  the  home  of  Major  David  Peery,  built  by  him  m  1805 
and  one  of  the  oldest  houses  now  occupied  as  a  residence  m  lazeweli 
County.  It  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Samuel  C.  Peery,  son  ot 
Capt.  Wm.  E.  Peery. 

This  John  Peery  was  distinguished  by  the  name  of  "Long  John," 
and  he  is  also  mentioned  in  the  county  records  as  "John  Peery, 
Blacksmith."  He  was  born  in  Augaista  County,  Virginia,  where  he 
married  Nancy  Martin  in  1772.  Their  children  were  all  born  in 
the  Clinch  Valley  and  their  names  were:  James,  David,  Catherine, 
Jane,  Archibald,  George,  and  Jonathan.  Of  these,  two  of  his  sons, 
David  and  George,  remained  in  Tazewell  County  and  settled  on  the 
lands  they  inherited  from  their  father.  The  others  moved  to  Ken- 
tucky and  Missouri.  "John  Peery.  Blacksmith"  died  at  Burksville, 
Kentuckv,  at  the  home  of  one  of  his  children,  about  the  year  1817. 


424  History  of  Tazewell  County- 

Major  David  Peery,  son  of  John  Peery,  "Blacksmith",  was 
born  April  17th,  1778,  in  the  Clinch  settlements.  In  December, 
1806,  he  married  Eleanor  Harman,  daughter  of  Henry  Harman,  Jr. 
Soon  after  their  marriage  he  built  a  comfortable  log  dwelling  on  the 
Clinch  about  one  mile  east  of  the  railway  station  at  North  Taze- 
well. It  is  now  the  residence  of  Samuel  Cecil  Peery,  and  is  one  of 
the  oldest  houses  still  used  as  a  dwelling  in  the  county.  Major 
Peery  has  a  large  number  of  descendants  in  Tazewell  County  and 
at  Ogden,  Utah,  where  his  son.  D.  Harold  Peery,  died  a  few  years 
ago  at  a  venerable  age. 

THE   THOMPSON    FAMILY. 

Bickley,  in  his  history  of  Tazewell  Count)',  says  nothing  about 
the  coming,  of  the  Thompsons  to  the  Clinch  Valley;  and  the  male 
descendants  of  the  pioneers  of  that  name  who  are  now  living  in 
the  county  seem  to  have  little  knowledge  of  when  their  ancestors 
came  here  and  what  they  did  after  they  became  settlers.  From 
Mrs.  George  W.  Gillespie,  of  Tazewell,  who  is  a  great-grandaughtcr 
of  William  Thompson,  a  pioneer ;  and  Mrs.  C.  W.  George,  of  Albany, 
Missouri,  who  is  a  great-great-grandaughter  of  the  said  William 
Thompson,  I  have  procured  very  satisfactory  information.  With 
this,  and  such  data  as  the  county  records  supply,  I  will  do  tlie  best 
I  can  in  preparing  a  sketch  of  the  Thompsons  wlio  were  of  the 
pioneers. 

The  Thompsons  are  of  the  Scotch-Irish  people,  who  migrated 
from  Ulster  and  settled  in  Pennsylvania.  They  came  from  that 
province  to  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  and  thence  to  the  Clinch  Valley. 
In  the  Surveyors  "Plot  Book"  of  Fincastle  County,  which  book  is 
now  kept  with  the  records  of  Montgomery  County,  at  Christians- 
burg,  I  find  that  Captain  Dan  Smith,  assistant  surveyor  of  Fincastle 
County,  in  tlie  year  1774  surveyed  for  one  William  Thompson  a 
tract  of  229  acres  of  land,  situated  "on  the  north  waters  of  the 
South  Fork  of  Clinch  River,  Beginning  at  a  black  walnut  at  the  foot 
of  Morris'  Knob."  The  date  of  this  survey  indicates  that  William 
Thompson  certainly  came  to  the  Clinch  Valley  as  early  as  1774, 
and  possibly  previous  to  that  date.  If  he  ever  lived  on  this  tract, 
which  he  purchased  from  the  Loyal  Company,  there  is  no  evidence 
now  in  existence  of  his  having  such  residence.  He  did.  however, 
acquire  under  a  settlers'  right  a  large  boundary'  of  valuable  land  in 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


425 


the  present  Thompson  Valley,  six  miles  above  Morris'  Knob  and 
built  his  home  at  the  place  where  Milton  Thompson,  his  great-grand- 
son, now  lives,  about  six  miles  south  of  the  town  of  Tazewell. 

It  appears  that  William  Thompson,  the  first,  was  twice  married. 
He  had  two  sons,  John  and  Archibald,  by  his  first  wife;  and  three 
or  more  sons  by  his  second  wife.  One  of  the  sons  by  his  second 
wife  was  known  as  "Lawyer  James  Thompson."  He  was  eccentric, 
but  a  man  of  ability,  and  was  the  first  Commonwealth's  Attorney  for 
Tazewell  County.     Another  son  of  the  second   family  was  named 


Col.  Archibald  Thompson,  one  of  the  first  generation  born  in 
Tazewell  County.  He  was  the  son  of  John  Thompson  and  a  grandson 
of  Lieutenant  Rees  Bowen. 

William.  He  was  called  "Roan  Billie",  because  of  the  peculiar 
color  of  his  hair,  which  was  red  and  gray  in  spots,  somewhat  similar 
to  the  hair  of  a  roan  horse.  A  third  son  of  the  second  marriage  was 
Andrew.  He  lived  at  the  old  home  place  after  his  father's  death; 
and  he  erected  the  tombstones  that  mark  the  grave  of  his  father 
and  the  graves  of  other  kindred  in  the  Thompson  family  graveyard. 
One  of  these  stones  records  the  fact  that  William  Thompson  was 
born  in  the  year  1722,  and  died  in  1798;  and  another  stone  gives 
the  date  of  the  birth  and  death  of  "Lawyer  James  Thompson." 

John  Thompson,  son  of  William,  married  Louisa  Bowen.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  Lieutenant  Rees  Bowen,  who  was  killed  in  the 
battle  at  King's  Mountain.    Archibald,  his  brother,  married  Rebecca 


426  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Peery,  a  daughter  of  George  Peery,,  who  settled  in  Abb's  Valley, 
and  who  was  one  of  the  justices  of  the  first  county  court  of  Taze- 
well County, 

John  Thompson,  after  his  marriage,  settled  in  Thompson  Valley, 
about  three  miles  below  Plum  Creek  Gap.  He  had  four  sons, 
William,  James,  Archibald  and  Walter,  and  several  daughters, 
William,  son  of  John,  married  Matilda  Witten,  daughter  of  James 
Witten,  the  famous  scout.  This  William  Thompson  established  his 
home  at  the  foot  of  Clinch  Mountain  on  the  old  wagon  road  which 
crossed  the  mountain  to  Poor  Valley,  and  thence  down  through 
Laurel  Gap,  by  Broad  Ford,  and  on  to  Preston's  Salt  Works,  His 
three  brothers  had  tlicir  homes  above  his  place  on  the  road  that 
then  passed  ujd  the  valley  to  the  Plum  Creek  Gap,  They  each  had 
large  and  valuable  boundaries  of  land,  most  of  which  still  remains 
in  the  possession  of  their  descendants. 

Archibald  Thompson,  son  of  the  first  W^illiam,  after  his  mar- 
riage with  Rebecca  Peery  settled  in  the  upper  section  of  Thompson 
Valley,  at  the  place  where  Joseph  Neal  now  lives.  Archibald  had 
four  sons — William,  George,  John  and  James,  He  acquired  an 
extensive  boundary  of  land  in  the  head  of  the  valley,  which  he 
divided  between  his  sons,  William,  George  and  James,  Nearly  all 
this  land  is  still  owned  by  his  descendants.  In  1813  he  purchased 
from  Captain  James  Patton  Thompson  a  tract  of  three  hundred 
acres  of  land  in  Burke's  Garden,  and  gave  it  to  his  son  John.  The 
tract  embraced  the  greater  part  of  the  four  hundred  acre  boundary 
upon  which  James  Burke  built  his  cabin  in  1753  or  1754,  Rufus 
Thompson,  grandson  of  INfajor  Archie,  as  he  was  called,  now 
owns  and  lives  upon  this  noted  and  valuable  farm, 

THE    BARNS    FAMILY, 

Robert  Barns,  the  progenitor  of  all  the  people  of  that  name  in 
Tazewell  County,  was  an  Irishman  by  blood  and  birth.  He  was 
born  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  left  the 
Emerald  Isle  when  he  was  a  mere  youth.  Tradition  says  his  depar- 
ture from  the  land  of  his  birth  was  occasioned  by  an  escapade  in 
which  he  and  several  mischievous  companions  succeeded  in  breaking 
up  an  Irish  Wake — in  that  day  a  very  grievous  offense  with  the 
peasantry  of  Ireland.  The  young  Irish  emigrant  located  for  a 
brief  while  in  Maryland  after  he  came  to  America,  and  then  moved 
on  to  the  present  Rockbridge  County,  Virginia.     From  tKence,  he 


and  Southwest  Virginia  427 

came  to  the  Clinch  Valley.  His  occupation  was  that  of  school- 
master, a  class  badly  needed  in  that  day  in  these  regions.  While 
engaged  in  teaching  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  neighborhood,  he  took 
advantage  of  the  liberal  settlers'  laws  of  Virginia  and  acquired  what 
is  now  a  splendid  landed  estate  in  the  Cove,  nearly  all  of  which 
still  remains  in  the  possession  of  two  of  his  great-grandsons,  Wil- 
liam O.  and  Joseph  G.  Barns. 

Robert  Barns  came  here  about  the  time  the  Revolutionary  War 
was  drawing  to  a  conclusion.  His  wife  was  Grace  Brown,  and  there 
was  a  peculiarity  in  the  structure  of  her  hands  that  continues  to 
mark  many  of  her  descendants,  even  unto  the  third  generation.  Her 
fingers  had  no  joints  below  the  second,  or  middle,  joints.  It  is  said 
that  her  father  and  brothers  and  sisters  had  hands  similarly  formed. 
Robert  and  Grace  Bams  had  but  three  children  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  two  sons  and  one  daughter.  They  were  William  and 
John,  and  the  daughter,  whose  name  I  have  not  found,  married 
John  Goodwin.  Robert  Barns  died  in  1802,  and  his  will  is  one  of 
the  first  recorded  in  the  Will  Book  of  this  county. 

William  Barns,  son  of  Robert  and  Grace  Barns,  married  Levicie 
Ward,  daughter  of  John  Ward,  the  first  clerk  of  Tazewell  County, 
and  grandaughter  of  David  Ward,  the  pioneer.  He  inherited  a 
large  share  of  his  father's  valuable  estate.  During  his  entire  life, 
after  reaching  manhood,  he  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  citizens 
of  the  county;  and  he  represented  Tazewell  County  in  the  Virginia 
House  of  Delegates  at  the  sessions  of  1829  and  1830.  He  lived 
through  the  entire  period  of  the  Civil  War,  and  gave  his  earnest 
sympathy  and  support  to  the  Confederate  cause.  Though  too  old 
to  perform  military  service,  he  had  three  sons  who  served  in  the 
Confedei-ate  Army.  Clinton  Barns  had  the  rank  of  captain;  Oscar 
was  lieutenant  of  Company  D,  23rd  Virginia  Battalion  of  Infantry, 
and  John  served  as  a  private  in  the  same  company.  When  the 
small  Federal  army  under  command  of  General  Burbridge,  in 
December,  1864,  was  retreating  after  being  beaten  by  the  Confed- 
erates at  the  Salt  Works,  a  party  of  stragglers  went  to  the  house  of 
'Squire  Barns  for  the  purpose  of  securing  loot.  One  of  the  ruffians, 
without  provocation,  shot  the  venerable  man,  in  the  presence  of  his 
family.  The  wound  was  in  the  breast  and  was  at  first  considered 
fatal,  but  the  old  gentleman  recovered,  and  remained  active  in  body 
and  mind  until  he  died  in  187-. 


428  History  of  Tazewell  County 

William  and  I>evicie  Barns  raised  a  very  large  family  which 
consisted  of  four  sons  and  six  daughters.  All  of  these,  except  one 
daughter,  Rebecca,  married  and  raised  large  families.  Robert 
Barns,  the  pioneer,  has  more  than  a  hundred  descendants  now  liv- 
ing in  Tazewell,  among  whom  are  found  many  of  the  best  citizens 
of  the  county. 

THE  GILLESPIES  OF   TAZEWELL. 

The  Gillespies  of  Tazewell  County  are  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry. 
Their  ancestors  came  from  Ulster,  and  first  settled  in  Pennsylvania. 
They  moved  from  that  province  and  located  in  the  part  of  Western 
North  Carolina  now  known  as  East  Tennessee. 

In  July,  1780,  Colonel  Charles  McDowell  and  other  Whig 
patriots  of  the  Carolinas  were  being  hard  pressed  by  Major  Fer- 
guson and  his  Tory  and  Pro\incial  forces  in  the  Catawba  and  Broad 
River  valleys.  The  Carolinians  appealed  to  Colonel  Isaac  Shelby 
to  come  to  their  assistance  with  a  volunteer  force  from  the  Holston 
and  Watauga  settlements.  He  heeded  the  call  and  marched 
promptly  with  two  hundred  mounted  riflemen  to  the  assistance  of  his 
comjjatriots  beyond  the  Allcghanies.  Thomas  Gillespie,  a  very 
young  man,  was  then  living  in  the  Watauga  Valley.  He  was  one  of 
the  band  of  two  hundred  that  went  with  Shelbj'  to  the  Carolinas, 
and  did  valiant  service  in  the  campaign  against  the  Provincials  and 
Tories  who  were  under  command  of  Ferguson  and  were  devastating 
the  country. 

Gillespie  was  with  Shelby  when  he  captured  Captain  Patrick 
Moore  and  his  Tory  garrison  of  ninety-four  men  at  Thickety  Fort 
on  the  30th  of  July,  1780,  and  he  was  in  the  several  small  battles 
that  Shelby's  men  had  with  the  Provincials  and  Tories.  In  the  fight 
at  Musgrove's  Mill  on  the  Enoree  River,  August  18th,  1780,  there 
were  some  extraordinary  feats  of  marksmanship  by  certain  of 
Shelby's  riflemen.  After  the  Provincials  and  Tories  were  routed, 
and  were  being  pursued  across  the  river,  one  of  the  Tory  riflemen, 
who  had  crossed  the  stream,  sheltered  himself  behind  a  tree  to  shoot 
at  the  Americans  as  they  crossed  at  the  rocky  ford.  The  tree,  how- 
ever, did  not  completely  conceal  the  body  of  the  Tory.  Noticing 
this,  Thomas  Gillespie  quickly  leveled  his  rifle  on  the  Tory's  par- 
tially exposed  body  and  at  the  crack  of  the  rebel's  rifle  the  Tory  bit 
the  dust. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  429 

When  Colonels  Campbell,  Shelby  and  Sevier,  on  the  26th  of 
September,  1780,  marched  from  Sycamore  Shoals  for  the  Carolinas 
to  answer  with  rifle  shots  the  insolent  message  sent  them  by  Major 
Patrick  Ferguson,  one  of  the  men  who  marched  with  them  was 
Thomas  Gillespie.  He  was  at  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain;  and, 
no  doubt,  did  his  duty  there  as  he  had  at  Musgrove's  Mill  the  pre- 
ceding August.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  on  the  march  to 
and  from  King's  Mountain,  Thomas  Gillespie  was  in  some  way 
associated  with  the  men  from  the  Clinch,  and  from  them  learned  of 
the  very  fertile  lands  and  other  attractions  of  this  beautiful  country. 
A  few  years  after  the  war  he  left  his  home  in  the  Watauga  Valley 
and  journeyed  to  the  Clinch  Valley;  and  took  up  his  residence 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood  where  David  Ward  was  then  living, 
and  where  Rees  Bowen  was  living  before  he  marched  to  his  death 
at  King's  Mountain. 

Soon  after  he  came  to  the  Clinch  settlements  he  married  Mar- 
garet Bowen,  daughter  of  Lieutenant  Rees  Bowen ;  and  established 
his  home  in  the  Cove,  at  the  foot  of  Clinch  Mountain,  on  or  near 
the  spot  where  W.  J.  Gillespie  now  has  his  residence.  There  he 
acquired  ownership  of  a  large  and  valuable  boundary  which  has 
ever  since  been  owned  by  his  descendants ;  and  is  now  owned  and 
occupied  by  W.  J.  Gillespie,  his  great-great-grandson.  Thomas  and 
Margaret  Gillespie  reared  a  large  family.  They  had  five  sons. — 
John,  Rees  B.,  Henry,  William  and  Robert,  and  two  daughters. 
They  have  a  large  number  of  descendants,  perhaps  a  thousand,  in 
Tazewell,  and  throughout  the  United  States. 

THE   WYNNES. 

William  Wj'nne,  who  settled  at  Locust  Hill,  one  and  a  half 
miles  east  of  the  present  town  of  Tazewell,  and  built  a  fort  there, 
was  one  of  the  most  interesting  characters  among  the  first  settlers. 
He  was  a  Quaker,  and  he  took  no  part  in  any  offensive  movements 
made  by  his  fellow-pioneers  against  the  Indians.  His  fort,  it  seems, 
was  built  purely  as  a  haven  of  safety  for  his  family  and  the  families 
of  his  neighbors.  Any  person  who  is  sufficiently  interested  to  go 
upon  the  ground  where  it  stood  will  find  that  it  was  admirably 
situated  for  defensive  purposes.  The  stockade  that  inclosed  the 
fort  was  so  arranged  as  to  bring  within  the  inclosure  the  head  of 
the  splendid  spring  that  gushes   from  a  cave  at  the  rear  of  Mr. 


430  History  of  Tazewell  County 

George  A.  Martin's  residence.  This  enabled  the  occupants  of  the 
fort  to  get  an  ample  supply  of  water  without  going  outside  the  stock- 
ade when  the  Indians  were  hanging  around. 

There  is  no  record  obtainable  that  tells  from  whence  William 
Wynne  came  when  he  moved  to  the  Clinch  Valley.  Being  a  Quaker, 
it  is  reasonable  to  conclude  that  he  came  here  from  Pennsylvania, 
possibly  by  way  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  His  grave,  which  can 
be  found  in  the  Peery  graveyard,  immediately  adjacent  to  the  spot 
where  his  fort  stood,  is  marked  by  a  marble  tombstone  on  which 
I  recently  found  the  following  inscription: 

"William  Wj^nne 
Born  August  10th  1729 
Died  July  8th  1808." 

His  will  is  recorded  in  Will  Book  No.  1  of  Tazewell  County  and 
reveals  the  fact  that  he  was  twice  married.  By  his  first  wife  he  had 
three  daughters — Ruth,  Orphy  Edward,  and  Sallie  Jane;  and  four 
sons — Jonah,  Elkanah,  Oliver  and  Harman.  There  is  no  record 
in  Tazewell  which  tells  the  maiden  name  of  his  first  wife.  It  may 
be  possible  that  she  was  a  Harman,  as  that  name  was  given  one  of 
her  sons;  and  William  Wynne  obtained  the  Locust  Hill  tract  from 
the  Harmans,  who  first  settled  there  when  they  came  to  the  Clinch. 

In  his  will,  the  old  Quaker  mentions  his  second  wife  as  "Phillis". 
Her  maiden  name  was  Whitley.  By  this  wife  he  had  eight  sons,  all 
of  whom  are  mentioned  in  his  will.  There  names  were:  John, 
William,  Samuel,  Robert,  Harry,  Peter,  James  and  Miner;  and  a 
number  of  daughters.  He  must  have  been  a  thrifty  and  industrious 
man,  as  he  accumulated  a  large  estate,  both  real  and  personal;  and 
made  ample  provision,  either  by  advancements  before  his  death  or 
by  bequests  in  his  will,  for  each  of  his  numerous  children,  said  to 
be  thirty-two  in  number.  To  his  son  Miner,  he  gave  his  "land  lying 
in  Burk's  Garden."  The  Burke's  Garden  Wynnes  are  the  descend- 
ants of  Miner  Wynne.  William  Wynne  in  writing  his  name  made 
'e'  the  last  letter  of  the  name.  Why  his  descendants  dropped  the 
"e"  from  the  name  is  not  kno\vn. 

John  Wynne  married  Olivia  Peery,  daughter  of  William  Peery, 
the  pioneer.  She  was  the  sister  of  'Squire  Tommie  and  t)r.  Field- 
ing Peery.  Nearly  a  hundred  years  ago  John  Wynne  built  the 
house  which  the  late  Captain  Wm.  E.  Peery  and  his  widow  occupied 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


431 


as  a  residence  for  more  than  sixty  years,  located  one  and  a  half 
miles  east  of  Tazewell.  In  1852,  John  Wynne  sold  the  place 
to  'Squire  Tomniie  Peery,  who  gave  it  to  his  son,  William  Edward. 
Mrs.  Kate  Cecil  Peery,  the  venerable  widow  of  Captain  Peery  made 
it  her  home  until  her  death  on  May  8th,  1919.  Olivia  Wynne,  wife 
of  John,  is  buried  in  the  Peery  graveyard.  Her  husband,  with  his 
remaining  family,  moved  to   Missouri   in    1852,   after  he   sold   the 


The  above  is  the  first  brick  house  erected  in  Tazewell  County.  It 
was  built  for  John  Wynne  over  a  hundred  years  ago;  and  in  1852  it 
became  the  home  of  the  late  Captain  Wm.  E.  Peery.  Perhaps  it  is 
the  most  noted  place  in  the  county,  and  many  historic  incidents  cluster 
about  the  lovely  old  home.  Wm.  E.  Peery,  Jr.,  son  of  Captain  Peeiy, 
now  owns  the  property;  and  it  is  likely  to  remain  a  possession  of  the 
Peery  family  for  many  future  generations. 
f^-*„^■■^  ■■ 

Locust  Hill  tract.  There  are  none  of  the  Wynnes  left  in  Tazewell, 
except  the  descendants  of  Miner  and  Oliver  Wynne.  The  latter 
located  in  Burke's  Garden  after  his  father's  death.  William  Wynne 
also  owned  six  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Powell's  Valley 
in  Lee  County.  These  lands  he  bequeathed  to  his  five  sons,  Samuel, 
Robert,  Henry,  Peter  and  James.  The  Wynns  now  living  in  Lee 
County  are  the  descendants  of  William  Wynne,  the  Clinch  Valley 
pioneer.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  William  Wynne  was  the 
wealthiest  man  in  Tazewell  at  the  time  of  his  death     The  appraise- 


432  History  of  Tazewell  County 

ment  of  his  personal  estate  amounted  to  the  sum  of  $2,603.29 ;  and 
he  owned  thousands  of  acres  of  the  choicest  lands  in  this  county. 

THE    MAXWELL    FAMILY. 

One  of  the  pioneer  families  that  figured  prominently  in  the 
early  history  of  the  Upper  Clinch  Valley,  is  the  Maxwells.  James 
Maxwell,  who  was  of  the  Scotch-Irish  blood,  came  from  the  prov- 
ince of  Ulster  to  America  and  settled  in  Pennsylvania  early  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  He  married  a  Miss  Roberts,  and  moved  to 
that  part  of  Augusta  County,  Virginia,  now  embraced  in  the  county 
of  Rockbridge.  Three  of  his  sons,  Thomas,  James  and  Robert, 
were  among  the  first  settlers  in  the  present  Tazewell  County. 
Thomas  and  James  settled  on  Bluestone,  not  very  far  from  the 
present  town  of  Graham;  and  Robert  located  near  Plum  Creek, 
about  two  miles  west  of  present  town  of  Tazewell.  Thej'^  came 
here  about  1771  or  1772. 

Thomas  Maxwell  has  been  so  frequently  mentioned  in  preced- 
ing Images  of  this  book  that  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  recount  his  deeds 
of  daring.  He  not  only  had  frequent  encounters  with  the  Indians, 
but  was  with  Lieutenant  Rees  Bowen  at  the  battle  of  King's  Moun- 
tain, where  he  acted  with  such  gallantry  that  he  was  made  a  cap- 
tain of  militia  in  Washington  County,  he  having  located  on  the 
North  Fork  of  Holston  River,  after  his  return  from  King's  Moun- 
tain. The  brave  pioneer  lost  his  life  while  assisting  in  the  rescue 
of  the  wife  and  children  of  Thomas  Ingles,  who  had  been  made 
captives  in  Burke's  Garden  by  a  band  of  Shawnee  Indians.  If 
Thomas  Maxwell  left  any  descendants,  there  is  no  record  or  tradi- 
tional evidence  by  which  the  author  can  locate  them. 

James  Maxwell  moved  from  the  Bluestone  settlements  and 
located  on  Clinch  River,  somewhere  westward  of  the  present  county 
seat  of  Tazewell.  He  did  excellent  service  as  a  soldier  and  scout 
in  the  war  with  the  Indians  in  1774<,  and  also  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  When  Tazewell  County  was  organized  in  1800,  James  Max- 
well was  made  the  first  sheriff  of  the  county.  The  records  of  the 
county  show  that  he  was  a  very  active  and  influential  citizen.  He 
had  a  family  but  it  has  been  impossible  to  get  any  information  about 
his  descendants.     It  is  probable  that  they  all  left  the  county. 

Robert  Maxwell,  who  settled  on  Plum  Creek,  had  eight  children. 
Their  names  were  as  follows :  Robert,  Mary,  John,  Margaret,  James, 


and  Southwest  Virginia  433 

Jennie^  Mattie  and  Elizabeth.  Jennie  and  Mattie  were  killed  by 
the  Indians  when  the  savages  were  making  one  of  their  bloody 
attacks  upon  tlie  Clinch  settlements.  Bickley  says  nothing  about 
this  tragic  incident.  Evidently  the  girls  were  very  young,  and  the 
murder  must  have  occurred  in  1780  or  1781.  The  Indians  made 
frequent  visits  to  the  Clinch  settlements  during  those  years,  while 
numbers  of  the  best  fighting  men  were  away,  at  King's  Mountain 
in  1780,  and  at  Guilford  Court  House  in  1781.  Robert  Maxwell's 
cabin  stood  soutli  of  the  road,  and  opposite  the  residence  of  the  late 
Captain  James  S.  Peery.  Some  of  the  stones  of  the  cabin  chimney 
still  remain  on  the  ground. 

Margaret,  daughter  of  Robert  and  Mary  Maxwell,  married 
David  Whitley.  He  built  a  grist  mill  on  the  site  now  occupied  by 
the  Star  Milling  Company  at  North  Tazewell;  and  he  built  the 
stone  house  for  a  dwelling  that  is  now  a  part  of  the  residence  of 
John  D.  Peery  at  North  Tazewell.  Margaret  Maxwell  was  the 
ancestress  of  all  the  Whitley's  who  have  since  resided  in  that 
vicinity. 

James  Maxwell,  son  of  Robert,  the  pioneer,  married  Mary  Wit- 
ten,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Jeremiah  Witten,  son  of  Thomas  Wit- 
ten,  the  pioneer.  He  was  a  scholarly  man,  and  died  in  1866,  aged 
eighty-six  years.  His  wife,  Mary  Witten  Maxwell,  died  in  1873  at 
the  age  of  ninety-three  years.  They  had  three  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters. Robert,  one  of  their  sons,  married  Margaret  Bates,  and  he 
died  in  1904,  at  which  time  he  was  in  his  ninety-seventh  year.  He 
was  the  father  of  the  venerable  James  Maxwell  who  is  now  living 
at  Maxwell,  six  miles  west  of  the  town  of  Tazewell.  His  residence 
is  the  stone  house  built  by  Burdine  Deskins  at  about  the  same  time 
David  Whitley  built  his  stone  dwelling  at  North  Tazewell. 


TH— 28. 


434  History  of  Tazewell  County 

APPENDIX  B  TO  PIONEER  PERIOD 


INDIAN  MASSACRES 

MASSACRES  BY  THE   INDIANS MANY  HORRIBLE  OUTRAGES  INFLICTED 

UPON  THE   CLINCH   VALLEY  SETTLEMENTS. 

For  a  period  of  eighteen  years  the  Upper  Clinch  Valley  settle- 
ments were  greatly  annoyed  with  repeated  attacks  by  the  Indians ; 
and  during  that  time  a  number  of  tragic  incidents  occurred  to 
impair  the  contentment  of  the  pioneer  settlers.  Beginning  with  the 
massacre  of  the  Henry  family,  in  1774,  the  Indians  continued,  at 
intervals,  until  1792,  to  make  raids  into  the  territory  which  was 
later  formed  into  Tazewell  County,  in  many  instances  inflicting 
horrible  outrages  upon  the  inhabitants.  Dr.  Bickley  in  his  history 
has  very  graphically  related  all  that  he  could  gather  from  tradition, 
and  from  records,  about  the  massacres  committed  in  Tazewell  by  the 
red  men;  and  the  most  diligent  investigations  on  my  part  have 
failed  to  reveal  but  few  other  outrages  of  sufficient  moment  to 
warrant  mention  in  this  book.  I  have,  however,  from  records  inac- 
cessible to  Bickley,  found  some  of  the  errors  and  omissions  of  Taze- 
well's first  historian,  and  will  make  the  necessary  corrections  as 
occasion  requires. 

MASSACRE   OF   HENRY   FAMILY. 

As  previously  stated,  John  Henry  and  his  family  were  the 
first  victims  of  the  hostile  savages  who  invaded  the  Upper  Clinch 
regions,  in  what  is  now  known  as  Tazewell  County.  Bickley  says 
that  Henry  settled  in  Thompson  Valley  in  the  spring  of  1771,  and 
that  he  and  his  family  were  killed  in  May,  1776.  There  are  two 
errors  in  this  latter  statement.  The  tragedy  took  place  on  the  8th 
of  September,  1774,  and  not  in  May  1776.  Major  Arthur  Camp- 
bell, who  was  in  command  of  all  the  military  forces  and  stations  in 
Fincastle  County,  west  of  New  River,  on  the  9th  of  September, 
1774,  made  a  report  to  Colonel  Preston,  county  lieutenant,  in  which 
he  said  the  attack  was  made  upon  Henry  and  his  family  the  day 
previous — that  is  on  the  8th  of  September,  1774. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  435 

John  Henry  was  then  living  on  the  south  side  of  Rich  Mountain, 
in  Thompson  Valley,  a  short  distance  east  of  Plum  Creek  Gap.  He 
had  purchased  a  tract  of  land  at  that  point  from  the  Loyal  Com- 
pany. In  a  recent  examination  of  the  Fincastle  County  records, 
that  are  kept  in  the  clerk's  office  of  Montgomery  County,  I  found 
the  following  recorded  on  page  79  of  "Plot  Book  No.  1." 

"Surveyed  for  John  Henry  167  acres  of  Land  lying  in  Fincastle 
County  on  the  north  waters  of  the  South  Fork  of  Clinch  River 
(agreeable  to  an  order  of  Council  of  the  16th  of  Deer.  1773,  being 
a  part  of  the  Loyal  Company  grant)  &  boimded  as  follows: 

"Beginning  at  a  black  walnut  at  foot  of  Rich  Mountain,  running 
thence  S  84  E  63  Poles  to  a  Hicory  S  36  W  70  to  a  Hicory  on  a 
Hill,  S  7  E  57— to  a  Spanish  Oak  S  60  W  153— to  a  Chestnut  N  30 
W  74  to  a  small  Sugar  Tree  S  36  W  38— to  a  white  Walnut  and 
Sugar  Tree  N  40  W  28— to  a  Sugar  Tree  &  Lynn  N  621/2  E  276 
Poles  to  the  Beginning.  Daniel  Smith  asst. 

5th  May  1774  Wm.  Preston  S  F  C" 

This  survey  shows  beyond  a  doubt  that  tradition  has  located 
accurately  the  place  where  the  first  massacre  by  the  Indians  occurred 
in  Tazewell  County.  In  1852,  when  Bickley  wrote  his  history,  the 
Henry  land  was  owned  by  James  S.  Witten.  It  is  now  owned  by 
Archie  Thompson    Bickley  says: 

"The  circumstances  attending  this  melancholy  occurrence,  are 
not  sufficiently  clear.  The  simple  fact  of  the  massacre  is  beyond 
doubt.  But  the  old  gentleman  who  furnished  me  with  the  circum- 
stances, showed  such  marked  evidences  of  a  decaying  state  of  mind, 
that  I  fear  the  tale  is  not  altogether  as  authentic  as  we  might  desire." 

It  seems  that  the  attack  was  made  by  the  Indians,  who  were  lying 
in  wait,  just  after  daylight  and  Bickley  details  the  circumstances 
as  follows:  ' 

"Mr.  Henry  stepped  to  the  door  and  unbolted  it,  with  the  inten- 
tion, no  doubt,  of  looking  abroad,  and  yawning  in  the  open  air. 
Stepping  in  the  door,  he  stretched  himself  up  to  inhale  the  sweet 
odors  of  the  morning  breeze,  when  a  party  of  Indians,  who  lay  near, 
fired  a  gun,  and  he  fell  on  his  face  in  the  yard.  He  wore  on  the 
waistbands  of  his  pantaloons,  a  large  metal  button,  which  must  have 


436  History  of  Tazewell  County 

served  as  a  target  to  the  Indian's  gun,  as  the  ball  passed  directly 
through  it,  and  into  Mr.  Henry's  body." 

The  savages  then  rushed  over  the  supposed  dead  body  of  Henry 
into  the  house,  where  they  tomahawked  and  killed  and  scalped  Mrs. 
Henry  and  all  of  her  children,  except  one  little  boy,  who  was  made 
a  prisoner.  Henry  rose  to  his  feet,  and,  knowing  he  could  do  noth- 
ing to  relieve  his  f amilj',  ran  into  the  woods  and  hid ;  and,  according 
to  Bickley,  tried  to  make  his  way  to  the  house  of  his  nearest  neigh- 
bor, a  Mr.  Martin.  Bickley  says  that  Martin  had  started  to  Rich 
Valley  with  his  family,  and  met  Mr.  Henry,  who  was  so  desperately 
wounded  that  he  was  crawling  on  his  hands  and  knees  to  warn  his 
neighbors  of  the  presence  of  the  Indians  in  the  community.  Martin 
put  Henry  on  a  horse  and  took  him  to  the  Cove  where  he  died  in  a 
few  hours  and  was  buried  on  the  farm  of  William  Barns,  Esq.  He 
further  says  that: 

"A  company  was  soon  collected  and  preparations  made  to  follow 
the  Indians,  who,  it  was  supposed,  had  carried  off  the  rest  of  the 
family.  But  when  they  arrived  at  the  fatal  spot,  the  family,  con- 
sisting of  a  wife  and  six  children,  were  found  murdered,  scalped, 
and  piled  up  after  tlie  manner  of  a  log  heap,  on  a  ridge  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  house.  One  child  was  not  found,  a  little  boy,  whom 
it  was  supposed  had  been  carried  off.  A  large  hole  was  opened, 
which  became  a  common  grave  for  the  mother  and  her  unoffending 
children. 

"The  identical  spot  on  which  Henry  was  buried,  could  not  be 
marked  for  a  number  of  years — a  few  years  ago,  a  grave  was  opened 
near  the  supposed  place,  which  accidently  proved  to  be  the  very 
spot  on  which  Henry  was  buried,  which  was  known  from  the  pres- 
ence of  boards  and  puncheons,  which  had  been  substituted  for  a 
coffin,  and  the  identical  button  through  which  the  fatal  ball  passed. 
The  button  is  now  in  possession  of  some  one  in  this  county." 

"The  old  gentleman"  who,  from  tradition,  related  to  Dr.  Bick- 
ley the  circumstances  connected  with  the  massacre  of  the  Henry 
family  was  pretty  accurate  as  to  what  he  told.  He  was  mistaken 
as  to  the  person  who  discovered  the  wounded  man  and  played  the 
part  of  the  good  Samaritan;  and  was  mistaken  in  the  name  of  the 
man  who  was  taking  his  family  to  Rich  Valley  in  the  present  Saiyth 
County.     Major  Campbell  reported  the  tragedy  the  day  after  it 


and  Southwest  Virginia  437 

occurred.  He  reported  "Old  John  Hamilton"  as  the  person  who 
found  Henry  after  he  was  wounded;  and  named  John  Bradshaw 
as  the  man  who  had  sent  his  family  to  Rich  Valley.  The  report  of 
Major  Campbell  has  been  very  freely  detailed  in  a  preceding  chap- 
ter, and  it  will  be  useless  to  repeat  it  here. 

THE    EVANS    FAMILY. 

From  the  time  that  John   Henry   and  his   family   were  killed, 
until  eight  years  after  the  Revolution  was  ended,  the  settlers  of 
the  Upper  Clinch  Valley  were  in  constant  dread  of  attacks  by  the 
Indians.     But,  if  Bickley  is  correct  in  the  dates  he  gives,  no  other 
attacks  were  made  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Tazewell  after  the  mass- 
acre of  the  Henry  family  until  the  third  year  of  the  Revolution. 
There  were  two  causes  for  the  temporary  immunity  our  ancestors 
enjoyed  from  attacks  by  the  savages.     One  cause  was  the  excellent 
preparation  the  inhabitants  had  made  by  building  block-houses  and 
forts,  and  the  organization  of  a  splendid  corps  of  scouts  that  was 
kept  constantly  on  duty  to  watch  and  report  any  invasion  by  the 
hostiles.     The  Tazewell  men  were  known   to  be  the  best   Indian 
fighters   on  the  Virginia   frontiers,   and  the   savages   dreaded   and 
avoided  encounters  with  them.     Another  cause  for  the  temporary 
relief  was  the  determined  efforts  of  the  Indians  to  drive  the  settlers 
from  Kentucky,  which  compelled  them  to  concentrate  all  their  forces 
for  the  execution  of  that  purpose.     Occasionally  small  parties  of 
the  red  men  would  slip  in  for  robbery,  and  sometimes  they  would 
take  a  prisoner,  but  no  other  massacre  occurred  until  1779. 

In  1773,  John  Evans  and  his  son  Jesse  moved  their  families 
from  Amherst  County,  Virginia,  and  settled  at  the  head  of  the  north 
fork  of  Clinch  River,  some  eight  miles  northeast  of  the  present 
town  of  Tazewell.  John  Evans  located  at  the  Locust  Bottom  and 
Jesse  established  his  home  about  one  mile  east  of  his  father's  where 
Buze  Harman  afterwards  lived,  just  west  of  the  village  of  Tiptop. 

In  1777,  a  small  band  of  Shawnees  came  to  the  head  of  the 
Clinch  and  made  John  Evans  a  captive  and  took  him  to  their  towns 
in  Ohio.  From  there  he  was  sent  to  Canada,  and  either  made  his 
escape,  or  was  ransomed,  and  went  to  Philadelphia.  Jesse  Evans 
heard  of  his  arrival  in  Philadelphia  and  went  there  in  the  spring 
of  1778  and  brought  him  home.     Bickley  says: 


438  History  of  Tazewell  County 

"In  the  summer  of  1779,  Jesse  Evans  left  his  house  with  six 
or  eight  hired  men,  for  the  purpose  of  executing  some  work  at  a  dis- 
tance from  home.  As  they  carried  with  them  various  farming 
implements,  their  guns  were  left  at  the  house,  where  Mrs.  Evans 
was  engaged  weaving  a  piece  of  cloth.  Her  oldest  daughter  was 
filling  quills  for  her;  while  the  remaining  four  children  were  either 
at  play  in  the  garden  or  gathering  vegetables. 

"The  garden  was  about  sixty  yards  from  the  house,  and  as  no 
sawmills  were  in  existence  at  that  day  in  this  county,  slab-boards 
were  put  up  in  the  manner  called  'wattling'  for  palings.  These 
were  some  six  feet  long,  and  made  what  is  called  a  close  fence. 
Eight  or  ten  Indians,  who  lay  concealed  in  a  thicket  near  the  gar- 
den, silently  left  their  hiding  places,  and  made  their  way 
unobserved,  to  the  back  of  the  garden;  there  removing  a  few  boards, 
they  bounded  through  and  commenced  the  horrid  work  of  killing 
and  scalping  the  children.  The  first  warning  Mrs.  Evans  had  was 
their  screams  and  cries.  She  ran  to  the  door,  and  beheld  the  sicken- 
ing scene,  with  such  feelings  as  only  a  mother  can  feel. 

"Mrs.  Evans  was  a  stout,  athletic  woman,  and  being  inured  to 
the  hardships  of  the  times,  with  her  to  will  was  to  do.  She  saw 
plainl}^  that  on  her  exertions  alone  could  one  spark  of  hope  be 
entertained  for  the  life  of  her  'first  born.'  An  unnatural  strength 
-seemed  to  nerve  her  arm,  and  she  resolved  to  defend  her  surviving 
child  to  the  last  extremity.  Rushing  into  the  house  she  closed  the 
door,  which  being  too  small  left  a  crevice,  through  which  in  a  few 
seconds  an  Indian  introduced  his  gun,  aiming  to  pry  open  the  door, 
and  finish  the  bloody  work  which  had  been  so  fearfully  begun. 
Mrs.  Evans  had  thrown  herself  against  the  door  to  prevent  the 
entrance  of  the  savages,  but  no  sooner  did  she  see  the  gun-barrel 
than  she  seized  it,  and  drew  it  so  far  in  as  to  make  it  available  for 
a  lever  in  prying  to  the  door.  The  Indians  threw  themselves  against 
the  door  to  force  it  open,  but  their  efforts  were  luiavailing.  The 
heroic  woman  stood  to  her  post,  well  knowing  that  her  life  depended 
upon  her  own  exertions.  The  Indians  now  endeavored  to  wrest  the 
gun  from  her;  in  this  they  likewise  failed.  Hitherto  she  had 
worked  in  silence;  but  as  she  saw  no  prospect  of  the  Indians  relin- 
quishing their  object,  she  began  to  call  loudly  for  her  husband,  as 
if  he  really  were  near.  It  had  the  desired  effect;  they  let  go  the 
gun,  and  hastily  left  the  house,  while  Mrs.  Evans  sat  quietly  down 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


439 


to  await  a  second  attack;  but  the  Indians,  who  had  perhaps  seen 
Mr.  Evans  and  his  workmen  leave  the  house,  feared  he  might  be 
near,  and  made  off  with  all  speed." 

After  the  Indians  left,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Goldsby  stepped 
up  to  the  door,  but  as  soon  as  Mrs.  Evans  told  him  of  the  attack  by 
the  savages  he  ran  swiftly  away  through  fear  of  the  Indians.  It 
was  told  that  he  exerted  himself  so  violently  in  making  his  escape 


The  old  house,  that  is  partially  shovvTi  behind  the  stack  of  wood, 
is  near  the  spot  where  Major  Taylor's  cabin  stood,  to  which  Mrs. 
Evans  and  her  daughter  fled  for  refuge.  This  old  house  was  built 
and  occupied  by  Major  Taylor  after  the  Revolutionary  War.  It  stands 
a  short  distance  north  of  the  residence  of  the  late  W.  G.  Mustard,  now 
the  residence  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Henry  S.  Bowen.  The  persons 
shown  sawing  wood  are  Mr.  Mustaixl  and  his  grandson,  Grat  Mustard 
Bowen.  The  latter  is  now  a  gi'OWTi  man  and  voting  citizen  of  the 
county. 

that  he  brought  on  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  from  which  he  was  a 
long  time  recovering.  Goldsby  was  one  of  the  very  few  cowards 
that  were  among  the  pioneer  settlers  on  the  Clinch. 

Mrs.  Evans,  armed  with  the  gun  she  had  taken  from  the  Indians, 
determined  to  go  with  her  little  daughter  to  Major  John  Taylor's. 
He  lived  two  miles  west  of  the  Evans  home,  at  the  location  of  the 
present  home  of  Mrs.  Henry  S.  Bowen,  and  about  the  same  distance 


440  History  of  Tazewell  County 

northwest  of  Witten's  Mill.  In  a  short  while  after  Mrs.  Evans  and 
her  daughter  started  to  Major  Taylor's,  her  husband  returned  to  his 
house.  He  supposed  his  wife  and  children  were  somewhere  about 
the  premises,  and  began  to  read  from  a  book,  possibly  his  Bible. 
At  last  he  became  alarmed  at  the  absence  of  his  wife  and  children 
and  went  out  into  the  garden,  thinking  it  probable  that  his  wife  was 
gathering  vegetables  for  their  dinner.  There  he  found  four  of  his 
little  ones  that  had  been  butchered  by  the  Indians.  Not  finding  his 
wife  and  eldest  daughter,  he  thought  they  had  been  made  captives 
by  the  Indians.  He  returned  to  the  house,  got  his  gun,  and  went 
to  Major  Taylor's  to  get  assistance,  where  he  was  joyfully  surprised 
to  find  his  wife  and  daughter  uninjured.  The  men  of  the  surround- 
ing country  were  quickly  notified  of  the  occurrence,  and  the  follow- 
ing morning  a  party  of  sympathetic  friends  accompanied  the 
bereaved  parents  to  their  home  to  bury  the  murdered  children. 
^^Tien  the  i^arty  reached  the  back  of  the  house  they  saw  Mary,  a 
child  only  four  years  old,  coming  from  the  spring  which  was  at  the 
front  of  the  Evans  home.  She  had  recovered  during  the  night  from 
the  blow  inflicted  with  a  tomahawk,  and  had  wandered  around  until 
daylight,  and  then  gone  to  the  spring  to  quench  her  thirst.  Her 
scalp  had  been  torn  from  her  skull  and  was  hanging  over  her  face 
which  was  smeared  and  stained  with  her  blood.  Mary  recovered 
entirely  from  the  injury,  grew  up  to  womanhood,  married  and 
became  the  mother  of  a  large  family. 

Bickley  says  that  after  the  horrible  calamity,  Jesse  Evans 
became  dissatisfied  with  his  home  on  the  Clinch  and  moved  to  Ten- 
nessee. He  must  have  lingered  for  several  years  in  Wright's  Val- 
ley after  the  massacre  of  his  children.  In  the  surveyors  entry  book 
of  Montgomery  County,  I  find  that  Jesse  Evans  in  1782  entered 
400  acres  of  land  in  Wright's  Valley  on  the  headwaters  of  the  North 
Fork  of  Clinch  River,  to  include  improvements.  This  was  evidently 
the  tract  of  land  upon  which  Evans  was  living  when  his  children 
were  killed  by  the  Indians. 

MASSACRE    OF    ROARK    FAMILY. 

The  year  following  the  massacre  of  the  Evans  family  another 
frightful  tragedy  was  enacted  in  Baptist  Valley,  when  the  Roark 
family  experienced  a  fate  similar  to  that  which  befell  the  family 
of  Jesse  Evans.     Tradition  is  very  apt  to  err  in  fixing  the  dates 


and  Southwest  Virginia  441 

of  incidents  similar  to  those  of  which  I  am  writing,  though  it  be 
accurate  as  to  the  locality  where  such  events  take  place  and  the 
circumstances  connected  therewith.  Bickley,  who  had  to  depend  on 
tradition,  places  the  massacre  of  the  Roarks  in  the  year  1789,  when 
it  actually  occurred  in  1780,  as  I  have  ascertained  from  existing 
records.  The  following  account  of  the  tragedy  is  given  by  Dr. 
Bickley : 

"James  Roark  lived  at  the  gap  of  the  dividing  ridge,  between 
the  waters  of  the  Clinch  and  the  Sandy  rivers,  through  which  passed 
the  Dry  Fork  road,  and  which  has  since  been  known  as  Roark's 
Gap.  Early  in  1789,  a  band  of  Shawnee  Indians  left  their  homes 
in  the  west,  and  ascending  the  Dry  fork,  fell  upon  the  defenseless 
family  of  Mr.  Roark  and  killed  his  wife  and  several  children. 
Two  sons  and  Mr.  Roark  were  from  home  and,  it  may  be,  thus 
saved  their  own  lives,  as  the  Indians  were  rather  numerous  to  have 
been  beaten  off  by  them,  even  if  they  had  been  at  home. 

"This  is  the  only  instance  that  I  have  met  with,  of  the  Indians 
nsiting  the  settlements  of  Tazewell  before  the  winter  had  clearly 
broken.      There  was  a  heavy  snow  upon  the  ground  at  the  time. 

"From  this  time  forward  the  Roarks  became  the  deadly  enemies 
of  the  Indians,  and  sought  them,  even  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
county.  Mr.  Roark  and  one  of  his  sons  (John),  were  afterwards 
killed  in  a  battle,  fought  at  what  was  then  known  as  the  Station 
bottom,  within  the  present  limits  of  Floyd  county,  Kentucky." 

In  a  publication  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin, 
gotten  out  in  1917,  I  have  found  a  report  which  shows  that  the 
Roark  massacre  occurred  on  the  18th  of  March,  1780.  The  report 
was  made  by  Major  John  Taylor  to  Colonel  William  Preston,  then 
county  lieutenant  for  Montgomery  County,  and  is  official.  The 
original  report,  now  in  the  possession  of  the  State  Historical  Society 
of  Wisconsin,  was  procured  by  the  late  Lyman  C.  Draper  from  the 
descendants  of  Colonel  Preston.  The  report  made  by  Major  Taylor 
to  Colonel  Preston  is  as  follows: 
"Sir: 

"The  18th  Instant  the  Indians  was  In  this  Neighborhood  and 
Fell  in  at  James  Roark's  where  they  Scalped  seven  of  his  Children 
And  his  wife.  They  are  all  Dead  only  one  Girl.  They  took  Seven 
Head  of  Horses  Five  of  which  was  the  property  of  Wm.  Patterson. 


442  History  of  Tazewell  County 

This  part  of  yr.  County  is  In  a  scene  of  Confusion  And  I  make  no 

doubt  but  the  Country  will  Break  up  without  they  Can  Get  Some 

Assistance.     I  am  as  yet  Living  at  home  but  Capt  Maxwell's  Compy 

are  Chiefly  Gathered  together  in  Small  Parties.     Corn  is  very  Scarce 

Here  but  if  a  few  men  could  be  raised  I  think  they  Could  be  found. 

Sir  if  you  have  resigned  yr  Commission  Pray  let  the  County  Lieut. 

Have  this  Letter  or  a  few  lines  from  yr.  self  which  I  think  will 

Answer  a  better  End.     I  expected  a  few  lines  from  you  By  Capt 

Moor  but  Dont  hear  of  any  My  family  is  In  Health  As  I  hope  yours 

and  I  am  Sir  yr.  Most  Hum  Srt. 

J  no  laylor 

Head  Clinch  23rd  March  1780 

C  B  the  Murder  was  Committed  In  seven  Miles  of  here." 

Major  Taylor  was  the  same  man  at  whose  home  Mrs.  Jesse 
Evans  and  her  daughter  sought  refuge  after  her  children  were 
killed  by  the  Indians  in  1779.  This  report,  made  b)'  letter  to 
Colonel  Preston,  not  only  gives  the  date  of  the  Roark  massacre  and 
the  number  of  victims  but  furnishes  valuable  information  as  to 
existing  military  and  economic  conditions  in  the  Upper  Clinch 
region  at  that  time.  The  military  authorities  of  Montgomery  County 
had  given  no  assistance  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Clinch  Valley  in 
repelling  the  repeated  invasions  made  by  the  Shawnees ;  and  the 
Evans  and  Roai-k  massacres  had  resulted,  as  the  forts  and  stations 
maintained  by  the  settlers  were  so  widely  separated  that  the  Indians 
were  able  to  steal  in  between  the  forts  and  murder  the  occupants  of 
the  outlying  cabins.  Evidently  there  was  a  serious  scarcity  of  corn 
in  the  Clinch  Valley,  which  gave  a  shortage  of  food  for  both  men 
and  animals.  The  scarcity  of  grain  seemed  to  be  general  throughout 
Montgomery,  owing,  possibly,  to  a  bad  season,  or  to  the  employment 
of  so  many  of  the  inhabitants  in  the  performance  of  military  duties. 
In  a  letter  written  the  15th  of  Feb.,  1780,  by  Rev.  Caleb  Wallace, 
who  was  then  living  near  the  present  town  of  Christiansburg.  to 
Colonel  William  Fleming,  then  locating  lands  under  military  grants 
in  Kentucky,  the  Reverend  Wallace  says:  "The  Condition  of  this 
Country  is  truly  distressing.  Corn  has  risen  to  10,  12  &  15  pounds 
the  Bushel,  and  it  is  to  be  feared  that  Multitudes  will  not  get  it  at 
any  Price." 

James  Roark  must  have  lingered  for  several  j^ears  upon  the 
scene  after  his  wife  and  children  were  murdered  by  the  Indians. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  443 

He  was  living  there  in  1783  when  Hugh  Fulton  ran  the  line  between 
Montgomery  and  Washington  counties.  The  last  course  in  Fulton's 
survey  is  from  the  west  end  of  Morris'  Knob,  and  is  as  follows: 
"Thence  from  said  Knob  north  crossing  the  spurs  of  the  same,  and 
Paint  Lick  mountain  the  north  fork  of  Clinch  by  John  Hines  plan- 
tation, and  over  the  river  ridge  by  James  Roark's  in  the  Baptist 
Valley,  to  a  sugar  tree  and  two  white  oaks  on  the  head  of  Sandy." 
Timothy  Roark  was  a  juror  on  the  first  grand-jury  impaneled 
in  Tazewell  County,  in  November,  1800.  Whether  he  was  a  son  or 
brother  of  James  is  not  disclosed  by  any  existing  record. 

CAPTURE    AND   RESCUE    OF    INGLES    FAMILY. 

Of  the  numerous  hostile  visits  made  by  the  Indians  to  the  set- 
tlements in  Tazewell  County,  none  was  more  thrilling  than  the 
capture  of  the  family  of  Thomas  Ingles  in  Burke's  Garden  by  Black 
Wolf  and  his  band  of  Shawnees.  Relying  upon  tradition,  Bickley 
fixes  the  date  of  this  incident  in  the  spring  of  1787.  It  occurred  in 
April,  1782. 

Thoma;s  Ingles  was  the  son  of  William  and  Mary  Ingles,  and 
was  one  of  the  captives  taken  at  the  Draper's  Meadows  massacre  in 
1755.  He  was  carx'ied  with  his  mother  and  the  other  prisoners  to 
the  Shawnee  towns  in  Ohio,  and  was  adopted  into  an  Indian  family, 
where  he  remained  for  thirteen  years.  His  father  went  to  Ohio  in 
1768,  ransomed  Thomas  by  the  payment  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars,  and  brought  him  to  his  home  at  Ingles'  Ferry  on  New  River, 
situated  about  one  mile  south  of  the  present  town  of  Radford.  His 
kinsmen.  Dr.  John  P.  Hale,  in  his  Trans-Alleghany  Pioneers,  says 
of  Thomas  Ingles:  "He  was  very  much  of  a  wild  Indian  in  his 
habits  when  he  first  returned;"  and:  "Notwithstanding  he  was 
petted,  humored  and  caressed  at  home,  a  wild  fit  would  overcome 
him  now  and  then,  and  he  would  wander  off  alone  in  the  wilderness 
with  his  bow  and  arrow,  and  stay  for  days  at  a  time,  and,  when  he 
returned,  would  give  no  account  of  himself,  nor  explanation  of  his 
conduct." 

His  parents  were  anxious  to  have  him  educated,  and  sent  him  to 
Albemarle  County,  where  he  was  placed  under  the  care  of  Dr. 
Thomas  Walker,  the  explorer,  surveyor,  and  agent  of  the  Loyal 
Company.  There  was  a  school  for  young  men  in  the  neighborhood 
of   "Castle   Hill,"    Dr.   Walker's   residence.      While   attending  this 


444  j^^^^  History  of  Tazewell  County 

school  young  Ingles  made  the  acquaintance  of  Miss  Eleanor  Grills, 
they  became  sweethearts,  and  were  married  in  1775. 

Shortly  after  his  marriage  his  father  gave  him  a  tract  of  land 
on  Wolf  Creek,  in  the  present  Giles  County.  It  was  in  the  wilder- 
ness and  suited  to  the  wild  disposition  of  the  young  man.  He  and 
his  family  remained  a  year  or  two  on  Wolf  Creek,  and  then 
removed  to  Abb's  Valley,  where  he  settled  on  the  one  thousand  acre 
tract  his  father  had  purchased  from  the  Loyal  Company.  After 
a  residence  of  a  year  or  more  in  Abb's  Valley,  Ingles  became 
alarmed  for  the  safety  of  his  wife  and  children,  because  of  the 
nearness  of  their  home  to  the  Indian  trail  up  the  Tug  Fork  of  Sandy, 
and  Bluestone.  This  trail  had  been  used  by  the  Indians  for  the 
raids  they  had  made  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Clinch  and  the  Upper 
New  River  Valley;  and  was  considered  one  of  the  most  dangerous 
on  the  frontier.  He  then  located  with  his  family  in  Burke's  Garden 
on  the  tract  of  land  where  James  Burke  had  once  lived,  and  occupied 
the  house  Burke  had  built.  His  father,  William  Ingles,  had  secured 
from  Burke  the  right  to  four  hundred  acres  of  land  which  Burke 
had  gotten  from  either  Colonel  Patton  or  the  Loyal  Company. 
There  was  but  one  other  white  man  living  in  the  Garden,  Joseph 
Hicks  by  name,  a  bachelor,  whose  cabin  was  two  miles  distant  from 
the  Ingles  home. 

Though  Ingles  had  moved  to  the  Garden  for  safety,  in  April, 
1782,  a  large  party  of  Shawnees,  led  by  the  noted  chief.  Black  Wolf, 
entered  Burke's  Garden.  They  concealed  themselves  until  Ingles 
went  out  on  his  farm  to  work,  and  tlien  surrounded  his  home;  and 
made  his  wife,  their  three  children  and  a  negro  man  and  woman 
prisoners.  After  taking  as  much  loot  as  they  could  carry,  the 
Indians  started  with  their  prisoners  and  booty  back  to  Ohio.  The 
cries  of  the  captives  attracted  the  notice  of  Thomas  Ingles  and  his 
negro  man  while  they  were  plowing  in  a  field.  They  abandoned 
their  plows,  and  started  on  a  run  to  investigate  the  trouble.  Seeing 
a  number  of  Indians,  and  having  no  gun.  Ingles  realized  that  he 
could  do  nothing  for  the  relief  of  his  family.  He  and  the  negro 
ran  back  to  their  plows,  unhitched  the  horses,  and  started  to  the 
nearest  settlement  to  get  assistance.  Knowing  that  the  Indians 
would  make  their  way  to  the  head  of  the  Clinch,  Ingles  decided  to 
go  in  another  direction,  and  crossed  the  mountains  to  the  nearest 
settlement  on  the  North  Fork  of  the  Holston. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  445 

It  happened  to  be  muster  day  for  the  Washington  County  militia 
and  the  settlers  on  the  North  Fork  of  Holston  River  had  assembled, 
and  were  being  drilled  by  Captain  Thomas  Maxwell,  who  had 
formerly  lived  at  the  head  of  Bluestone,  in  Tazewell  County.  Max- 
well, with  a  party  of  fifteen  or  twenty  volunteers,  went  with  Thomas 
Ingles  to  Burke's  Garden  to  pursue  the  Indians  and  rescue  the  cap- 
tives. 

Joseph  Hicks  and  his  negro  man  were  on  their  way  to  the  house 
of  Thomas  Ingles  the  morning  the  Indians  made  the  attack.  As 
soon  as  Hicks  discovered  the  Indians,  and  saw  what  they  were 
doing,  he  and  his  negro  retreated  rapidly,  crossed  Burke's  Garden 
and  Brushy  mountains  on  foot  to  a  small  settlement  in  the  present 
Bland  County  for  help.  There  they  secured  six  or  seven  men  who 
returned  with  Hicks  to  the  Garden,  arriving  about  the  same  time 
that  Thomas  Ingles  and  Captain  Maxwell  got  there  with  their  party. 
The  two  forces  were  united,  and  went  in  immediate  pursuit  of  the 
savages.  Captain  Maxwell  was  put  in  command  of  the  whole  party, 
and  the  trail  of  the  Indians  was  first  struck  at  the  head  of  Clinch. 
Some  of  the  settlers  from  the  Clinch  and  Bluestone  joined  the  pur- 
suing party;  and  the  trail  of  the  Indians  was  followed  with  great 
caution,  as  it  was  feared  the  captives  would  be  killed  if  the  savages 
found  they  were  being  pursued. 

On  the  fifth  day  after  the  capture  the  advance  scouts  of  the  white 
men  discovered  the  Indians,  who  were  encamped  for  the  night  in  a 
gap  of  Tug  Mountain.  A  consultation  was  held  by  the  pursuers,  and 
it  was  agreed  that  Captain  INIaxwell  should  take  half  the  men,  and, 
during  the  night,  get  around  to  the  front  of  the  Indians,  and  Thomas 
Ingles  should  remain  with  the  other  half  at  the  rear;  and  that  at 
daybreak  a  simultaneous  attack  upon  the  savages  be  made  by  the 
two  divisions.  The  night  was  very  dark  and  the  ground  exceed- 
ingly rough  and  brushy.  Consequently  the  party  with  Maxwell 
lost  their  way  and  did  not  reach  the  front  by  daylight. 

Maxwell  having  failed  to  get  to  his  appointed  place  on  time, 
and  the  Indians  beginning  to  rouse  from  their  slumbers,  Ingles 
determined  to  make  an  attack  with  his  men.  Dr.  Thomas  Hale,  who 
was  a  great-grandson  of  William  and  Mary  Ingles  and  who  col- 
lected his  information  from  the  records  of  tlie  Ingles  family  thuis 
relates  what  transpired  after  the  attack  was  made; 


446  History  of  Tazewell  County 

"So  soon  as  a  shot  was  fired,  some  of  the  Indians  began  to  toma- 
hawk the  prisoners,  wliile  others  fought  and  fled.  Thomas  Ingles 
rushed  in  and  seized  his  wife  just  as  she  had  received  a  terrible  blow 
on  the  head  with  a  tomahawk.  She  fell,  covering  the  infant  of  a 
few  months  old,  which  she  held  in  her  arms.  The  Indians  had  no 
time  to  devote  to  it.  They  had  tomahawked  his  little  five-year-old 
daughter,  named  Mary,  after  her  mother,  and  his  little  three-year- 
old  son,  named  William,  after  his  father.  His  negro  servants,  a 
man  and  woman,  captured  with  his  family,  escaped  without  injury. 

"In  making  their  escape,  the  Indians  ran  close  to  Captain  Max- 
well and  party,  and,  firing  on  them,  killed  Captain  Maxwell,  who 
was  conspicuous  from  wearing  a  white  hunting  shirt. 

"The  whites  remained  on  the  ground  until  late  in  the  evening 
burying  Captain  Maxwell,  who  was  killed  outright,  and  Thomas 
Ingles'  Ittle  son,  who  died  from  his  wounds  during  the  day.  Mrs. 
Ingles  and  the  little  girl  were  still  alive  though  badly  wounded." 

It  was  not  known  definitely  whether  any  of  the  Indians  were 
killed,  but  while  the  whites  remained  on  the  scene  they  heard  groans 
from  the  adj  acent  laurel  thickets,  that  seemed  to  be  made  by  persons 
who  were  suffering  or  dying. 

After  burying  the  dead  and  giving  such  attention  as  was  pos- 
sible to  the  wounds  of  Mrs.  Ingles  and  her  little  daughter,  Mary, 
the  party  began  its  return  march  to  the  settlements.  Owing  to  the 
critical  condition  of  Mrs.  Ingles  and  her  daughter,  the  party  had  to 
move  very  slowly,  and  it  required  four  days  for  them  to  reach  Wil- 
liam Wynne's  fort  at  Locust  Hill,  one  and  a  half  miles  east  of  the 
present  town  of  Tazewell. 

William  Ingles,  father  of  Thomas,  received  the  news  of  the  cap- 
ture of  his  son's  family  a  few  days  after  it  occurred,  and  he  immed- 
iately left  his  home  on  New  River  for  Burke's  Garden.  Appre- 
hending that  there  would  be  dire  need  of  surgical  attention,  he 
took  with  him  the  best  surgeon  he  could  get  in  the  New  River  set- 
tlements. He  reached  Wynne's  fort  about  the  same  time  that 
Thomas  Ingles  with  his  wife  and  children  arrived  there.  No  relief 
could  be  given  little  Mary,  and  she  died  the  morning  after  the 
rescue  p'irty  reached  the  fort.  The  surgeon  was  more  successful 
with  the  case  of  Mrs.  Ingles.  He  eijitracted  several  pieces  of  bone 
from  her  skull,  and  treated  the  wound  sp  skillfully  that  she  was 


and  Southwest  Virginia  447 

able  to  travel  on  horseback  in  a  few  weeks,  when  she,  with  her 
husband  and  babe,  returned  with  William  Ingles  to  his  home  at 
Ingle's  Ferry,  on  New  River.  Very  soon  thereafter,  Thomas 
Ingles,  with  his  wife  and  infant  daughter,  moved  to  Tennessee,  and 
settled  in  succession  on  the  Watauga  River,  at  Mossy  Creek,  and 
at  Fort  Knox,  now  Knoxville,  There  his  daughter,  Rhoda,  who 
escaped  death  at  the  hands  of  the  Indians,  grew  up  to  lovely  woman- 
hood, and  became  the  wife  of  Patrick  Campbell  a  prominent  citizen 
of  Knoxville.  Some  time  subsequent  to  his  daughter's  marriage, 
Thomas  Ingles  moved  to  Mississippi,  where  he  remained  until  he 
died. 

THE    CAPTIVITY   OF    JAMES    MOORE. 

The  pioneer  family  that  suffered  most  at  the  hands  of  the 
Indians  was  that  of  Captain  James  Moore,  who  moved  with  his 
family  from  what  is  now  Rockbridge  County  to  Abb's  Valley,  in 
1772.  Bickley  says:  "In  September,  1784,  a  party  of  Indians  had 
entered  the  present  limits  of  Tazewell,  and  dividing  themselves 
into  small  parties  to  steal  horses  and  to  annoy  the  settlers,  three 
had  entered  the  Abb's  Valley  settlement,  in  which  resided  Capt. 
James  Moore  and  a  brother-in-law  named  John  Pogue  (Poage). 
The  Indians  had  been  for  a  day  or  two  lurking  round,  waiting,  and 
looking  for  an  opportunity  to  seize  horses  or  murder  the  settlers." 
These  three  Indians  were  Black  Wolf  and  two  youths  about 
eighteen  years  old,  one  of  them  a  son  of  the  Wolf.  While  they 
were  lurking  round  in  Abb's  Valley,  Captain  Moore  one  morning 
sent  his  son,  James,  a  lad  about  eighteen  years  old,  to  a  distant 
pasture  to  get  a  horse  to  take  a  bag  of  com  to  mill.  While  James 
was  on  his  way  to  the  pasture,  he  was  suddenly  set  upon  by  Black 
Wolf  and  his  companions  and  made  a  captive.  He  was  taken  by 
his  captors  to  the  Indian  town  in  Ohio  and  adopted  by  a  half  sister 
of  the  Wolf,  she  giving  the  chief  an  old  horse  in  exchange  for  the 
boy.  It  was  five  years  before  James  Moore  got  back  home,  and 
three  years  after  the  massacre  of  his  father  and  his  family.  He  had 
many  thrilling  experiences  while  with  the  Indians.  In  the  spring 
of  1775,  he  was  so  fortunate  as  to  get  away  from  the  Indians,  and 
several  years  after  his  return  home  he  related  the  following  incidents 
in  connection  with  his  captivity: 


448  History  of  Tazewell  County 

"When  we  returned  from  hunting,  in  the  spring,  the  old  man 
gave  me  up  to  Captain  Elliot,  a  trader,  from  Detroit.  But  my 
mistress,  on  hearing  this,  became  very  angry,  threatened  Elliot,  and 
got  me  back.  Some  time  in  April  there  was  a  dance  at  a  town  about 
two  miles  from  where  I  resided.  This  I  attended,  in  company  with 
the  Indian  to  whom  I  belonged.  Meeting  with  a  French  trader  from 
Detroit,  by  the  name  of  Batest  Ariome,  who  took  a  fancy  to  me 
on  account  of  my  resemblance  to  one  of  his  sons,  he  bought  me  for 
fifty  dollars  in  Indian  money.  Before  leaving  the  dance,  I  met  with 
a  Mr.  Sherlock,  a  trader  from  Kentucky,  who  had  formerly  been  a 
prisoner  to  the  same  tribe  of  Indians,  and  who  had  rescued  a  lad 
by  the  name  of  MofEt,  who  had  been  captured  at  the  head  of  Clinch, 
and  whose  father  was  an  intimate  and  particular  friend  of  my 
father's.  I  requested  Mr.  Sherlock  to  write  to  my  father,  through 
Mr.  Moffit,  informing  him  of  my  captivity,  and  that  I  had  been  pur- 
chased by  a  French  trader,  and  was  gone  to  Detroit.  This  letter, 
I  have  reason  to  believe,  father  received,  and  that  it  gave  him  the 
first  information  of  what  had  become  of  me. 

"Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ariome  were  to  me  parents  indeed.  They  treated 
me  like  one  of  their  own  sons.  I  ate  at  their  table,  and  slept  with 
their  sons,  in  a  good  feather  bed.  They  always  gave  me  good 
counsel,  and  advised  me  (particularly  Mrs.  Ariome)  not  to  abandon 
the  idea  of  returning  to  my  friends.  I  worked  on  the  farm  with  his 
sons,  and  occasionallj-  assisted  him  in  his  trading  expeditions.  We 
traded  at  different  places,  and  sometimes  went  a  considerable  dis- 
tance in  the  country. 

"On  one  of  these  occasions,  four  young  Indians  began  to  boast 
of  their  bravery  and  among  other  things,  said  that  one  Indian  could 
whip  four  white  men.  This  provoked  me,  and  I  told  them  that  I 
could  whip  all  four  of  them.  They  immediately  attacked  me,  but 
Mr.  Ariome,  hearing  the  noise,  came  and  took  me  away.  This  I 
considered  a  kind  providence;  for  the  Indians  are  very  unskillful 
in  boxing,  and  in  this  manner  of  fighting,  I  could  easily  have  whip- 
ped all  of  them;  but  when  they  began  to  find  themselves  worsted, 
I  expected  them  to  attack  me  with  clubs,  or  some  other  weapon, 
and  if  so,  had  laid  my  plans  to  kill  them  all  with  a  knife,  which  I 
had  concealed  in  my  belt,  mount  a  fleet  horse,  which  was  close  at 
hand,  and  escape  to  Detroit. 

"It  was  on  one  of  these  trading  expeditions,  that  I  first  heard  of 


and  Southwest  Virginia  449 

the  destruction  of  father's  family.  This  I  learned  through  a  Shaw- 
nee Indian,  with  whom  I  had  been  acquainted  when  I  lived  with 
them  J  and  who  was  one  of  the  party  on  that  occasion.  I  received 
this  information  some  time  in  the  same  summer  after  it  occurred. 
In  the  following  winter,  I  learned  that  my  sister  Polly  had  been 
purchased  by  Mr.  Stogwell,  an  American  by  birth,  but  unfriendly 
to  the  American  cause.  He  was  a  man  of  bad  character — an  unfeel- 
ing wretch — and  treated  my  sister  with  great  unkindness.  At  that 
time  he  resided  a  considerable  distance  from  me.  When  I  heard 
of  my  sister,  I  immediately  prepared  to  go  and  see  her;  but  as  it 
was  then  in  the  dead  of  winter,  and  the  journey  would  have  been 
attended  with  great  difficulties,  on  being  told,  by  Mr.  S.,  that  he 
intended  to  remove  to  the  neighborhood  where  I  resided  in  the 
following  spring,  I  declined  it.  When  I  heard  that  Mr.  Stogwell 
had  removed,  as  was  contemplated,  I  immediately  went  to  see  her. 
I  found  her  in  the  most  abject  condition,  almost  naked,  being 
clothed  with  only  a  few  dirty  and  tattered  rags,  exhibiting  to  my 
mind,  an  object  of  pity  indeed.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  my 
feelings  on  that  occasion;  sorrow  and  joy  were  both  combined;  and 
I  have  no  doubt  the  feelings  of  my  sister  were  similar  to  my  own. 
On  being  advised,  I  applied  to  the  commanding  officer  at  Detroit, 
informing  him  of  her  treatment,  with  the  hope  of  effecting  her 
release.  I  went  to  Mr.  Simon  Girty,  and  to  Col.  McKee,  the  super- 
intendent of  the  Indians,  who  had  Mr.  Stogwell  brought  to  trial  to 
answer  the  complaint  brought  against  him.  But  I  failed  to  pro- 
cure her  release.  It  was  decided,  however,  when  an  opportunity 
should  occur  for  our  returning  to  our  friends,  she  should  be  released 
without  remuneration.  This  was  punctually  performed,  on  applica- 
tion of  Mr.  Thomas  Ivins,  who  had  come  in  search  of  his  sister 
Martha,  already  alluded  to,  who  had  been  purchased  from  the 
Indians  by  some  family  in  the  neighborhood,  and  was,  at  that  time, 
with  a  Mr.  Donaldson,  a  worthy  and  wealthy  English  farmer,  and 
working  for  herself. 

"All  being  now  at  liberty,  we  made  preparations  for  our  journey 
to  our  distant  friends,  and  set  out,  I  think,  some  time  in  the  month 
of  October,  1789;  it  being  a  little  more  than  five  years  from  the 
time  of  my  captivity,  and  a  little  more  than  three  years  from  the 
time  of  the  captivity  of  my  sister  and  Martha  Ivins.  A  trading  boat 
coming  down  the  lakes,  we  obtained  a  passage,  for  myself  and  sister, 

TH.— 29 


450 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


to  the  Moravian  towns^  a  distance  of  about  two  hundred  miles,  and 
on  the  route  to  Pittsburgh.  There,  according  to  appointment,  we 
met  with  Mr.  Ivins  and  his  sister,  the  day  after  our  arrival.     He 


This  apple  tree  was  carried  from  Rockbridge  County,  by  James 
Moore,  the  captive,  to  Abb's  Valley,  and  planted  near  the  place  where 
his  father  and  kindred  were  massacred.  Four  years  ago,  when  the 
ti'ee  was  116  years  old,  it  bore  116  bushels  of  excellent  apples.  Since 
then  large  portions  of  the  tree  were  torn  off  by  a  stoiTn. 

had,  in  the  meantime  procured  three  horses,  and  we  immediately 
set  out  for  Pittsburgh.  Fortunately  for  us,  a  party  of  friendly 
Indians,  from  these  towns,  were  about  starting  on  a  hunting  excur- 
sion, and  accompanied  us  for  a  considerable  distance  on  our  route, 


and  Southwest  Virginia  451 

which  was  through  a  wilderness,  and  the  hunting-ground  of  an 
unfriendly  tribe.  On  one  of  the  nights,  during  our  journey,  we 
encamped  near  a  large  party  of  these  hostile  Indians.  The  next 
morning  four  or  five  of  their  warriors,  painted  red,  came  into  our 
camp.  This  much  alarmed  us.  They  made  many  inquiries,  but  did 
not  molest  us,  which  might  not  have  been  the  case,  if  we  had  not 
been  in  company  with  other  Indians.  After  this,  nothing  occurred, 
worthy  of  notice,  until  we  reached  Pittsburgh.  Probably  we  would 
have  reached  Rockbridge  that  fall,  if  Mr.  Ivins  had  not,  unfortu- 
nately, got  his  shoulder  dislocated.  In  consequence  of  this,  we 
remained  until  spring  with  an  uncle  of  his,  in  the  vicinity  of  Pitts- 
burgh. Having  expended  nearly  all  his  money  in  traveling,  and 
with  the  physician,  he  left  his  sister  and  proceeded  on  with  sister 
Polly  and  myself,  to  the  house  of  our  uncle,  William  McPhaetus, 
about  ten  miles  south-west  of  Staunton,  near  the  Middle  river. 
He  received,  from  uncle  Joseph  Moore,  the  administrator  of  father's 
estate,  compensation  for  his  services,  and  afterward  returned  and 
brought  in  his  sister." 

MASSACRE  OF  THE  MOORES. 

Of  the  many  cruel  massacres  committed  by  the  Indians  within 
the  bounds  of  the  present  Tazewell  County  that  of  the  Moore  family 
was  the  most  tragic  and  pathetic.  Captain  Moore  had  shown  such 
wonderful  fortitude  as  a  frontiersman,  and  proved  himself  such  a 
gallant  soldier  in  the  Indians  Wars  and  in  the  Revolution,  that  his 
death  was  a  grievous  loss  to  his  county  and  State.  Dr.  Bickley's 
acccount  of  the  tragedy  is  based  upon  information  he  received  from 
the  immediate  descendants  of  Captain  Moore,  and  from  contem- 
porary written  narratives.  Therefore  it  must  be  an  accurate  narra- 
tive of  the  terrible  affair,  and  I  will  reproduce  it  in  full,  as  follows : 

"In  July,  1786,  a  party  of  forty-seven  Indians,  of  the  Shawnees 
tribe,  again  entered  Abb's  Valley.  Capt.  James  Moore  usually  kept 
five  or  six  loaded  guns  in  his  house,  which  was  a  strong  log  building, 
and  hoped,  by  the  assistance  of  his  wife,  who  was  very  active  in 
loading  a  gun,  together  with  Simpson,  a  man  who  lived  with  him, 
to  be  able  to  repel  the  attack  of  any  small  party  of  Indians.  Rely- 
ing on  his  prowess,  he  had  not  sought  refuge  in  a  fort,  as  many 
of  the  settlers  had;  a  fact  of  which  the  Indians  seem  to  have  been 
aware,  from  their  cutting  out  the  tongues  of  his  horses  and  cattle, 


452  History  of  Tazewell  County 

and  partially  skinning  them.  It  seems  they  were  afraid  to  attack 
him  openly,  and  sought  rather  to  drive  him  to  the  fort,  that  they 
might  sack  his  house. 

"On  the  morning  of  the  attack,  Capt.  Moore,  who  had  pre- 
viously distinguished  himself  at  Alamance,  was  at  a  lick  bog,  a  short 
distance  from  his  house,  salting  his  horses,  of  which  he  had  many. 
William  Clark  and  an  Irishman  were  reaping  wheat  in  front  of  the 
house.  Mrs.  Moore  and  the  family  were  engaged  in  the  ordinary 
business  of  housework.     A  man,  named  Simpson,  was  sick  up-stairs. 

"The  two  men,  who  were  in  the  field,  at  work,  saw  the  Indians 
coming,  in  full  speed,  down  the  hill,  toward  Captain  Moore's  who 
had  ere  this  discovered  them,  and  started  in  a  run  for  the  house. 
He  was,  however,  shot  through  the  body,  and  died  immediately. 
Two  of  his  children,  William  and  Rebecca,  who  were  returning 
from  the  sjDring,  were  killed  about  the  same  time.  The  Indians  had 
now  approached  near  the  house,  and  were  met  by  two  fierce  dogs, 
which  fought  manfully  to  protect  the  family  of  their  master.  After 
a  severe  contest,  the  fiercest  one  was  killed,  and  the  other  subdued. 
I  shall  again  use  Mr.  Brown's  narrative,  it  being  quite  authentic. 

"The  two  men  who  were  reaping,  hearing  the  alarm,  and  seeing 
the  house  surrounded,  fled,  and  alarmed  the  settlement.  At  that 
time,  the  nearest  family  was  distant  six  miles.  As  soon  as  the  alarm 
was  given,  Mrs.  Moore  and  Martha  Ivins  (who  was  living  in  the 
family)  barred  the  door,  but  this  was  of  no  avail.  There  was  no 
man  in  the  house,  at  this  time  except  John  Simpson,  the  old  English- 
man, already  alluded  to,  and  he  was  in  the  loft,  sick  and  in  bed. 
There  were  five  or  six  guns  in  the  house,  but  having  been  shot  off 
the  evening  before,  they  were  then  empty.  It  was  intended  to  have 
loaded  them  after  breakfast.  Martha  Ivins  took  two  of  them  and 
went  up  stairs  where  Simpson  was,  and  handing  them  to  him,  told 
him  to  shoot.  He  looked  up,  but  had  been  shot  in  the  head  through 
a  crack,  and  was  then  near  his  end.  The  Indians  then  proceeded 
to  cut  down  the  door,  which  they  soon  effected.  During  this  time, 
Martha  Ivins  went  to  the  far  end  of  the  house,  lifted  up  a  loose 
plank,  and  went  under  the  floor,  and  requested  Polly  Moore  (then 
eight  years  of  age)  who  had  the  youngest  child,  called  Margaret, 
in  her  arms  (which  was  crying),  to  set  the  child  doAvn,  and  come 
under.  Polly  looked  at  the  child,  clasped  it  to  her  breast,  and 
determined  to  share  its  fate.     The  Indians,  having  broken  into  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


453 


house,  took  Mrs.  Moore  and  children,  viz ;  John,  Jane,  Polly,  and 
Peggy  prisoners,  and  having  taken  everything  that  suited  them, 
they  set  it  and  the  other  buildings  on  fire,  and  went  away.  Martha 
Ivins  remained  under  the  floor  a  short  time,  and  then  came  out  and 
hid  herself  under  a  log  that  lay  across  a  branch,  not  far  from  the 
house.  The  Indians,  having  tarried  a  short  time,  with  a  view  of 
catching  horses,  one  of  them  walked  across  this  log,  sat  down  on  the 
end  of  it,  and  began  to  fix  his  gunlock.     Miss  Ivins,  supposing  that 


The  shelving  rock  under  which  Mai-tha  Evans  concealed  herself 
when  the  Moore  family  was  massacred.  Believing  she  had  been  dis- 
covered by  an  Indian,  who  was  sitting  on  a  log  that  rested  on  the  rock, 
and  who  was  picking  the  flint  on  his  rifle,  she  crawled  from  conceal- 
ment, was  made  a  prisoner,  and  became  one  of  the  Captives  of  Abb's 
Valley. 

she  was  discovered,  and  that  he  was  preparing  to  shoot  her,  came 
out  and  gave  herself  up.  At  this  he  seemed  much  pleased.  They 
then  set  out  for  their  towns.  Perceiving  that  John  Moore  was  a 
boy,  weak  in  body  and  mind,  and  unable  to  travel,  they  killed  him 
the  first  day.  The  babe  they  took  two  or  three  days,  but  it  being 
fretful,  on  account  of  a  wound  it  had  received,  they  dashed  its  brains 
out  against  a  tree.  They  then  moved  on  with  haste  to  their  towns. 
For  some  time,  it  was  usual  to  tie,  very  securely,  each  of  the 
prisoners  at  night,  and  for  a  warrior  to  lie  beside  each  of  them,  with 


454  History  of  Tazewell  County 

tomahawk  in  hand,  so  that  in  ease  of  pursuit,  the  prisoners  might 
be  speedily  dispatched.     *     *     * 

"Shortly  after  they  reached  the  towns,  JMrs.  Moore  and  her 
daughter  Jane'were  put  to  death,  being  burned  and  tortured  at  the 
stake.  This  lasted  sometime,  during  which  slie  manifested  the 
utmost  Christian  fortitude,  and  bore  it  without  a  murmur,  at 
intervals  conversing  with  her  daughter  Polly,  and  Martha  Ivins, 
and  expressing  great  anxiety  for  the  moment  to  arrive,  when  her 
soul  should  wing  its  way  to  the  bosom  of  its  Savior.  At  length 
an  old  squaw,  more  humane  than  the  rest,  dispatched  her  witli  a 
tomahawk. 

"Polly  Moore  and  Mai-tha  Ivins  eventually  reached  home,  as 
described  in  the  narrative  of  James  Moore. 

"Several  incidents,  in  this  narrative,  have  been  left  out.  When 
the  Indians  set  fire  to  the  house  and  started,  the)'  took  from  the 
stable  the  fine  black  horse  Yorick.  He  was  a  horse  of  such  a  vicious 
nature,  that  no  one  could  manage  him  but  Simpson.  The  Indians 
had  not  proceeded  far  when  one  mounted  him,  but  soon  the  horse 
had  him  on  the  ground,  and  was  pawing  him  to  death  with  his  feet ; 
for  this  purpose  a  few  strokes  were  sufficient.  Another  mounted 
him  and  was  served  in  like  maimer.  Perfectly  wild  with  rage,  a 
very  large  Indian  mounted  him,  swearing  to  ride  him  or  kill  him; 
a  few  plunges  and  the  Indian  was  under  the  feet  of  the  desperate 
horse,  his  teeth  buried  in  his  flesh,  and  uttering  a  scream  as  if  he 
intended  to  avenge  the  death  of  his  master;  he  had  just  dispatched 
the  Indian,  when  another  running  up,  stabbed  him,  and  thus  put 
an  end  to  the  conflict.     'Alas !  poor  Yorick.' 

"It  is  said  that  Mrs.  Moore  had  her  body  stuck  full  of  lightwood 
splinters  which  were  fired,  and  she  was  thus  tortured  three  days, 
before  she  died. 

"When  Martha  Evans  and  Polly  Moore  were  among  the  French, 
they  fared  much  worse  than  when  among  the  Indians.  The  French 
had  plenty,  but  were  miserly,  and  seemed  to  care  little  for  their 
wants.  The  Indians  had  little,  but  would  divide  that  little  to  the 
last  particle. 

"A  song,  in  commemoration  of  the  Moore  captivit)',  is  sung  by 
some  of  the  mountaineers  to  this  day,  but  as  it  is  devoid  of  poetical 
merit  I  omit  its  insertion.  It  may  be  seen  in  Howe's  History  of 
Virginia." 


and  Southwest  Virginia  455 

HARMAN    AND    PEMBERTON    BATTLES   WITH    THE    INDIANS. 

The  story  of  the  encounter  of  Henry  Harman  and  his  two  sons 
witli  the  Indians  was  obtained  by  Dr.  Bickley  from  the  Harman 
descendants;  and  the  account  of  Richax-d  Pemberton's  battle  with 
the  red  men  was  given  Bickley  from  tradition.  There  is  nothing 
of  record  that  I  have  been  able  to  find  to  throw  further  light  on 
these  thrilling  occurrences,  and  I  will  adopt  Bickley's  narrative 
thereof  in  full : 

HARMAN    AND    PEMBERTON     FIGHTS BATTLE    BETWEEN    THE 

HARMANS    AND    SEVEN    INDIANS. 

"In  the  fall  of  1784,  Henry  Harman  and  his  two  sons,  George 
and  Matthias,  and  George  Draper  left  the  settlement  to  engage  in 
a  bear  hunt  on  Tug  river.  Thej^  were  provided  with  pack-horses, 
independent  of  those  used  for  riding,  and  on  which  were  to  be 
brought  in  the  game.  The  country  in  which  their  hunt  was  to  take 
place,  was  penetrated  by  the  'war-path'  leading  to,  and  from  the 
Ohio  river;  but  as  it  was  late  in  the  season,  they  did  not  expect  to 
meet  with  the  Indians. 

"Arriving  at  the  hunting-grounds  in  the  early  part  of  the  even- 
ing, they  stopped  and  built  their  camp ;  a  work  executed  generally 
by  the  old  man,  who  might  be  said  to  be  particular  in  having  it 
constructed  to  his  own  taste.  George  and  Matthias  loaded,  and  put 
their  guns  in  order,  and  started  to  the  woods,  to  look  for  sign,  and 
perchance  kill  a  buck  for  the  evening's  repast,  while  Draper  busied 
himself  in  hobbling  and  caring  for  the  horses. 

"In  a  short  time,  George  returned  with  the  startling  intelligence 
of  Indians !  He  had  found  a  camp  but  a  short  distance  from  their 
own,  in  whicli  the  partly  consumed  sticks  were  still  burning.  They 
could  not,  of  course,  be  at  any  considerable  distance,  and  might 
now  be  concealed  near  them,  watching  their  every  movement. 
George,  while  at  the  camp,  had  made  a  rapid  search  for  sign,  and 
found  a  pair  of  leggins,  which  he  showed  the  old  man.  Now  old 
Mr.  Harman,  was  a  type  of  frontiersmen,  in  some  things,  and  par- 
ticularly that  remarkable  self-possession,  which  is  so  often  to  be  met 
with  in  new  countries,  where  dangers  are  ever  in  the  patTi  of  the 
settlers.  So  taking  a  seat  on  the  ground,  he  began  to  interrogate 
his  son  on  the  dimensions,  appearances,  etc.,  of  the  camp.     When 


456  History  of  Tazewell  County 

he  had  fully  satisfied  himself,  he  i*emarked,  that  "there  must  be 
from  five  to  seven  Indians/'  and  that  they  must  pack  up  and  hurry 
back  to  the  settlement,  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  Indians  from 
doing  mischief;  and,  said  he,  "if  we  fall  in  with  them,  we  must 
fight  them." 

"Matthias  was  immediately  called  in,  and  the  horses  repacked. 
Mr.  Harman  and  Draper,  now  began  to  load  their  guns,  when  the 
old  man  observing  Draper  laboring  under  what  is  known  among 
hunters  as  the  'Buck  Ague,'  being  that  state  of  excitement,  which 
causes  excessive  trembling,  remarked  to  him,  'my  son,  I  fear  you 
cannot  fight.' 

"The  plan  of  march  was  now  agreed  upon,  which  was,  that  Mr. 
Harman  and  Draper  should  lead  the  way,  the  pack-horses  follow 
them,  and  ISIatthias  and  George,  bring  up  the  rear.  After  they 
had  started,  Draper  remarked  to  Mr.  H.,  that  he  would  get  ahead, 
as  he  could  see  better  than  Mr.  H.,  and  that  he  would  keep  a  sharp 
lookout.  It  is  highh'  probable  that  he  was  cogitating  a  plan  of 
escape,  as  he  had  not  gone  far  before  he  declared  he  saw  the 
Indians,  which  proved  not  to  be  true.  Proceeding  a  short  distance 
further,  he  suddenly  wheeled  his  horse,  about,  at  the  same  time  cry- 
ing out,  "Yonder  they  are — behind  that  log:"  as  a  liar  is  not  to  be 
believed  even  when  he  speaks  the  truth,  so  Mr.  Draper  was  not 
believed  this  time.  Mr.  Harman  rode  on,  while  a  large  dog,  he 
had  with  him,  ran  up  to  the  log  and  reared  himself  up  on  it,  showing 
no  signs  of  the  presence  of  Indians.  At  this  second,  a  sheet  of 
fire  and  smoke  from  the  Indian  rifles,  completely  concealed  the  log 
from  view,  for  Draper  had  really  sjDoken  the  truth. 

"Before  the  smoke  had  cleared  away,  Mr.  Harman  and  his  sons 
were  dismounted,  while  Draper  had  fled  with  all  the  speed  of  a 
swift  horse.  There  were  seven  of  the  Indians,  only  four  of  whom 
had  guns ;  the  rest  being  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  tomahawks 
and  scalping-knives.  As  soon  as  they  fired,  they  rushed  on  Mr. 
Harman,  who  fell  back  to  where  his  two  sons  stood  ready  to  meet 
the  Indians. 

"They  immediately  surrounded  the  three  white  men,  who  had 
formed  a  triangle,  each  man  looking  out,  or,  what  would  have  been, 
with  men  enough,  a  hollow  square.  The  old  gentleman  bid  Matthias 
to  reserve  his  fire,  while  himself  and  George  fired,  wounding  as 
it    would    seem,    two   of   the    Indians.      George    was    a   lame   man. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  457 

from  having  had  white  swelling  in  his  childhood,  and  after  firing 
a  few  rounds,  tlie  Indians  noticed  his  limping,  and  one  who  fired  at 
him,  rushed  upon  him  thinking  him  wounded.  George  saw  the 
fatal  tomahawk  raised,  and  drawing  back  his  gun,  prepared  to  meet 
it.  When  the  Indian  had  got  within  striking  distance,  George  let 
down  upon  his  head  with  the  gun,  which  brought  him  to  the  ground ; 
he  soon  recov^ered,  and  made  at  him  again,  half  bent  and  head  fore- 
most, intending,  no  doubt,  to  trip  him  up.  But  as  he  got  near 
enough,  George  sprang  up  and  jumped  across  him,  which  brought 
the  Indian  to  his  knees.  Feeling  for  his  knife,  and  not  getting  hold 
of  it,  he  seized  the  Indian's  and  plunged  it  deep  into  his  side. 
Matthias  struck  him  on  the  head  with  a  tomahawk,  and  finished 
the  work  with  him. 

"Two  Indians  had  attacked  the  old  man  with  bows,  and  were 
maneuvering  around  him,  to  get  a  clear  fire,  at  his  left  breast.  The 
Harmans,  to  a  man,  wore  their  bullet-pouches  on  the  left  side,  and 
with  this  and  his  arm  he  so  completely  shielded  his  breast,  that  the 
Indians  did  not  fire  till  they  saw  the  old  gentleman's  gun  nearly 
loaded  again,  when  one  fired  on  him,  and  struck  his  elbow  near  the 
joint,  cutting  one  of  the  principal  arteries.  In  a  second  more,  the 
fearful  string  was  heard  to  vibrate,  and  an  arrow  entered  Mr. 
Harman's  breast  and  lodged  against  a  rib.  He  had  by  this  time 
loaded  the  gim,  and  was  raising  it  to  his  face  to  shoot  one  of  the 
Indians,  when  the  stream  of  blood  from  the  wounded  artery  flew 
in  the  pan,  and  so  soiled  his  gun  that  it  was  impossible  to  make  it 
fire.  Raising  the  gun,  however,  had  the  effect  to  drive  back  the 
Indians,  who  retreated  to  where  the  others  stood  with  their  guns 
empty. 

"Matthias,  who  had  remained  an  almost  inactive  spectator, 
now  asked  permission  to  fire,  which  the  old  man  granted.  The 
Indian  at  whom  he  fired  appeared  to  be  the  chief,  and  was  standing 
under  a  large  beech  tree.  At  the  report  of  the  rifle,  the  Indian  fell, 
throwing  his  tomahawk  high  among  the  limbs  of  the  tree  under 
which  he  stood. 

"Seeing  two  of  their  number  lying  dead  upon  the  ground,  and 
two  more  badly  wounded,  they  immediately  made  off,  passing  by 
Draper,  who  had  left  his  horse,  and  concealed  himself  behind  a  log. 

"As  soon  as  the  Indians  retreated,  the  old  man  fell  back  on  the 
ground  exhausted  and  fainting  from  loss  of  blood.     The  wounded 


458  History  of  Tazewell  County 

arm  being  tied  up  and  his  face  washed  in  cold  watei-,  soon  restored 
him.  The  first  words  he  uttered  were,  'We've  whipped,  give  me  mv 
pipe.'  This  was  furnished  him,  and  he  took  a  whif,  while  the  boys 
scalped  one  of  the  Indians. 

"When  Draper  saw  the  Indians  pass  him,  he  stealthy  crept 
from  his  hiding-place,  and  pushed  on  for  the  settlement,  where  he 
reported  the  whole  party  murdered.  The  people  assembled  and 
started  soon  the  following  morning  to  bury  them;  but  they  had  not 
gone  far  before  they  met  Mr.  H.  and  his  sons,  in  too  good  con- 
dition to  need  burying. 

"Upon  the  tree,  under  which  the  chief  was  killed,  is  roughly 
carved  an  Indian,  a  bow,  and  a  gun,  commemorative  of  the  fight. 
The  arrows  which  were  shot  into  Mr.  Harman.  are  in  possession 
of  some  of  his  descendants. 

pemberton's   fight. 

"Richard  Pemberton,  the  hero  of  this  battle,  lived  in  the  Bap- 
tist Valley,  about  five  miles  from  Jeffersonville.  In  addition  to  a 
small  farm  around  his  cabin,  he  cultivated  a  field,  now  owned  by 
William  O.  George,  about  one  and  a  half  miles  from  his  dwelling. 

"On  a  Sabbath  morning  late  in  August,  1788,  he  started  to 
his  field  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  two  children,  to  see  that  his 
fences  were  not  down,  and  to  repair  any  breach  that  might  have  been 
made.  According  to  the  custom  of  the  times,  Mr.  Pemberton  had 
taken  with  him  his  gun,  which  was  his  constant  companion.  After 
satisfying  himself  that  his  crops  were  safe,  the  little  party  started 
back.  They  had  gone  but  a  few  hundred  yards,  however,  when  two 
Indians,  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  knives,  and  tomahawks,  came 
yelling  toward  them  at  full  speed.  In  an  instant  the  pioneer's  gun 
was  leveled  and  the  trigger  jjulled;  it  missed  fire,  and  in  his  hurry 
to  spring  the  lock  again,  he  broke  it,  and  of  course  could  not  fire. 
Seeing  him  raise  his  g-un  to  shoot,  caused  the  Indians  to  halt,  and 
commence  firing  arrows  at  him.  Keeping  himself  between  his  wife 
and  children  and  the  Indians,  he  ordered  them  to  get  on  as  fast  as 
possible  and  try  to  reach  a  house  at  which  a  Mr.  Johnson  lived, 
and  where  several  men  were  living.  This  house  was  some  half  mile 
distant,  but  he  hoped  to  reach  it,  and  save  those  whom  he  held 
dearest — his  wife  and  children.  The  Indians  made  every  possible 
attempt  to  separate  him  from  his  family,  all  of  which  proved  vain. 


and_Southwest  Virginia  459 

They  would  retreat  to  a  resiDectful  distance,  and  then  come  bound- 
ing back  like  so  many  furies  from  the  regions  of  indescribable  woe. 
When  they  came  too  near,  he  would  raise  his  gun  as  if  he  was  really 
reserving  his  fire,  which  would  cause  them  to  halt  and  surround 
him.  But  at  every  attack  they  shot  their  arrows  into  his  breast, 
causing  great  pain. 

"For  nearly  an  hour  this  running  fight  was  kept  up;  still  the 
blood-thirstj'  savages  pressed  on;  at  last,  he  was  sufficiently  near 
to  Johnson's  house  to  be  heard,  and  he  raised  his  powerful  voice 
for  succor;  he  was  heard,  but  no  sooner  did  the  men  at  the  house 
hear  the  cry  of  'Indians'  than  they  took  to  their  heels  in  an  oppo- 
site direction.  At  last  he  arrived  at  the  house,  closely  pursued  by 
the  Indians,  and  entering  after  his  family,  barred  up  the  door,  and 
began  to  make  preparations  for  acting  more  upon  the  offensive, 
when  the  Indians  made  a  rapid  retreat.  Pemberton  reached  his 
own  house  the  following  day,  where  he  resided  many  years,  an  eye- 
sore to  those  who  had  so  ingloriously  fled  from  his  assistance. 
Many  arrow  points  which  entered  his  breast  were  never  removed, 
and  were  carried  to  the  end  of  life,  as  the  best  certificate  of  his 
bravery  and  devotion  to  his  family." 

DIAL   AND  THOMAS   MURDERED   BY   INDIANS. 

On  the  11th  of  April,  1786,  two  men  were  killed  by  the  In- 
dians within  half  a  mile  of  William  Wynne's  fort  at  Locust  Hill, 
and  near  the  house  of  John  Peery.  Peery  was  living  near  the 
forks  of  the  Clinch,  one  and  a  half  miles  east  of  Tazewell.  Matth- 
ias Harman  and  Benjamin  Thomas  were  returning  from  a  scouting 
expedition,  as  there  were  reports  current  that  Indians  were  prowl- 
ing around  the  neighborhood.  The  scouts  stopped  at  John  Peery's, 
near  where  a  man  by  the  name  of  Dial  was  living.  Dial,  it  is  said, 
had  liquor  for  sale,  and  he  and  Harman  and  Thomas  imbibed  so 
freely  that  they  became  intoxicated.  Harman  and  Thomas  had 
come  from  their  scouting  expedition  very  hungry,  and  they  requested 
Mrs.  Dial  to  prepare  dinner  for  them.  She  consented  to  do  so,  if 
the  men  would  get  wood  with  which  she  could  cook  the  meal.  Dial 
and  Thomas  started  to  the  woods  to  get  the  fuel,  and  when  they 
got  to  the  end  of  the  lane,  about  two  hundred  yards  from  the  house, 
they  were  fired  ujjon  by  six  or  seven  Indians,  who  had  been  lying 
in  ambush.     Three  balls  entered  Dial's  body,  but  he  was  able  to 


460  History  of  Tazewell  County 

run  to  his  house,  pursued  by  one  of  the  Indians,  who  was  anxious 
to  kill  and  scalp  him.  When  they  got  near  the  house,  the  Indian 
saw  other  men  thei-e  and  he  ran  swiftly  back  to  his  compan- 
ions. Dial  fell  against  the  chimney  corner  from  exhaustion  and 
died  in  a  few  hours  from  his  wounds.  Only  one  of  the  Indians 
shot  at  Thomas  and  he  was  so  close  that  Thomas  struck  the  gun  up 
when  it  was  fired.  The  ball  struck  an  oak  tree  several  feet  above 
Thomas'  head.  He  was  knocked  down  with  a  war  club  by  one  of 
the  Indians,  and  was  scalped  and  left  for  dead.  Harman,  a  son 
of  "old  man  Henry,"  and,  like  his  father,  a  daring  Indian  fighter, 
seized  his  gun,  ran  out  of  the  house,  mounted  his  liorse  and  pursued 
the  Indians  for  some  distance.  He  dared  them  to  stop  and  fight ; 
but  they  were  too  near  Wynne's  fort  to  accept  the  challenge,  and 
made  their  escape  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

Thomas  was  supposed  by  Harman  to  be  dead,  and  was  left 
where  he  had  fallen  until  the  next  morning,  when  he  was  found  by 
the  kind  old  Quaker,  William  Wynne.  Thomas  was  taken  to 
Wynne's  fort  and  every  effort  was  made  to  save  his  life,  but  he 
died  after  lingering  several  days. 

MASSACRE   OF   WILEY   CHILDREN   AND   CAPTIVITY   OF   THEIR   MOTHER. 

Thomas  Wiley,  with  his  wife  and  four  children,  was  living  on 
Clear  Fork,  just  half  a  mile  above  the  mouth  of  Cove  Creek.  A 
party  of  Shawnees  came  up  Tug  River  and  on  to  the  head  of  Blue- 
stone.  On  the  1st  of  October,  1789,  they  crossed  over  East  River 
Mountain  to  Clear  Fork.  Late  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day  the 
Indians  suddenly  made  their  appearance  at  the  door  of  Thomas 
Wiley's  humble  cabin.  Wiley  was  away  from  home,  and  the  In- 
dians easily  made  captives  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Wiley  and  her  four 
children.  The  savages  first  plundered  the  house  of  its  scant  con- 
tents and  then  destroved  it  with  fire.  They  then  started  back  to- 
ward Bluestone;  but,  after  proceeding  a  short  distance  up  Cove 
Creek,  they  killed  and  scalped  the  four  innocent  children  and  left 
their  mutilated  bodies  in  the  wilderness,  a  prey  for  the  wolves  and 
other  carniverous  animals  that  were  then  numerous  in  that  region. 

The  Indians  took  Mrs.  Wiley  with  them  to  their  towns  in 
Ohio,  where  she  was  held  a  captive  for  nearly  three  years.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1792,  she  made  her  escape  in  company  with  Samuel 
Lusk,  a  youth  some  sixteen  years  old.     He  had  been  made  a  pris- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  461 

oner  in  July,  1792,  when  his  scouting  companion,  Joseph  Gilbert, 
was  killed  on  the  waters  of  the  Guyandotte  River, 

The  escape  of  Mrs.  Wiley  was  nearly  as  thrilling  as  was  that  of 
Mrs.  Ingles  in  1755.  Early  in  the  night,  late  in  September,  1792, 
Mrs.  Wiley  and  Lusk  slipped  away  from  the  Indian  village,  got 
in  a  canoe  Lusk  had  placed  ready  for  the  escape;  and  traveled  rap- 
idly down  the  Scioto  River  fifty  miles  to  the  southern  banks  of  the 
Ohio,  which  they  reached  the  morning  following  their  escape  from 
the  village.  They  abandoned  the  canoe,  and  travelled  as  speedily  as 
possible  on  foot  up  the  southern  bank  of  the  Ohio.  When  they 
reached  a  point  opposite  the  present  Gallipolis,  they  crossed  the 
river  to  a  small  village  where  they  found  some  friendly  French 
residing.  These  kind  people  gave  them  refuge,  and  when  a  party  of 
pursuing  Indians  reached  the  village,  they  made  such  effectual  con- 
cealment of  the  escaped  captives  that  their  pursuers  failed  to  dis- 
cover them.  A  party  of  white  men  came  along,  traveling  up  the 
river  in  a  push  boat  to  Pittsbui'g,  and  Lusk  joined  them.  He  got 
to  Pittsburg  safely,  then  went  to  Philadelphia,  and  fi'om  there 
came  back  to  Virginia,  reaching  his  home  in  Wythe  County  about 
one  month  after  he  made  his  escape  from  the  Indians. 

A  few  days  after  Lusk  left,  Mrs.  Wiley  resolved  to  try  to  make 
her  way  home  by  traveling  on  foot  up  the  Kanawha,  and  New 
River.  She  bravely  started  on  the  laborious  and  perilous  journey. 
Weary  and  footsore  she  succeeded  in  reaching  the  home  of  her  hus- 
band's brother,  who  was  then  living  with  his  family  at  Wiley's 
Falls,  in  the  present  Giles  County,  Virginia. 

INDIANS    KILL    JOHN    DAVIDSON. 

Some  time  in  either  1789  or  1790,  John  Davidson,  a  man 
advanced  in  years,  was  killed  by  the  Indians  on  the  Clinch  River, 
half  a  mile  above  the  present  town  of  North  Tazewell.  Mr.  David- 
son had  been  on  a  business  visit  to  Rockingham  County,  Virginia, 
and  was  returning  to  his  home  when  the  murder  was  committed  at 
a  point  near  the  present  residence  of  Charles  H.  Peery. 

The  circumstances  connected  with  the  tragedy  were  afterwards 
made  known  by  white  persons  who  had  been  in  captivity,  and  who 
were  told  by  the  Indians,  when  they  were  prisoners,  how,  and 
why,  Mr.  Davidson  was  killed.  He  had  stopped  at  a  deserted  cabin 
to  feed  his  horse,  and  while  thus  occupied  was  shot  to  death.     The 


462  History  of  Tazewell  County- 

Indians  also  said  that  a  white  renegade  was  with  tliem  when  the 
horrible  deed  was  done.  It  seems  that  the  crime  was  a  double  one, 
as  the  Indians  and  their  companion  found  a  considerable  amount 
of  specie  in  the  saddlebags  of  the  old  man  which  was  stolen  by  the 
murderers.     Bickley  says: 

"A  few  days  after,  his  son,  Col.  Davidson,  became  uneasy  on 
account  of  his  absence,  and  raising  a  small  company  went  in  search 
of  him.  Luckily,  when  they  got  to  the  cabin,  they  found  a  hatband, 
which,  being  of  peculiar  structure,  was  recognized  as  that  worn 
by  Mr.  Davidson.  After  considerable  search,  his  body  was  found 
stripped  of  clothing,  and  somewhat  disfigured  by  birds.  As  the 
Indians  had  too  long  been  gone  to  be  overtaken,  Mr.  Davidson  was 
taken  home  and  buried." 

ANDREW  Davidson's  family  made  captives. 

In  the  spring  of  1791,  Andrew  Davidson  was  living  at  the 
head  spring  of  East  River,  about  a  half  mile  below  the  eastern  limits 
of  the  city  of  Bluefield,  West  Virginia.  In  addition  to  himself,  his 
family  consisted  of  his  wife,  Rebecca,  his  three  small  children,  two 
girls  and  a  boy,  and  a  bound  boy  and  girl  named  Broomfield.  The 
bound  children  were  very  young,  between  seven  and  ten  years  old, 
and  were  more  in  the  nature  of  proteges  than  servants.  Mrs.  Davdd- 
son  was  a  granddaughter  of  James  Burke,  from  whom  Burke's 
Garden  received  its  name.  Mr.  Davidson  had  gone  on  a  business 
trip  to  Smithfield.  formerly  Draper's  Meadows,  and  now  Blacks- 
burg,  Virginia.  It  was  the  sugar  making  season,  and  a  few  days 
after  her  husband's  departure  for  Smithfield,  Mrs.  Davidson  was 
busily  occupied  gathering  sugar  water  from  sugar  trees  close  to  the 
house.  While  slie  was  thus  engaged,  several  Indians,  who  could 
speak  English,  came  upon  the  scene.  They  told  her  that  she  and 
her  children  must  go  with  them  to  their  towns  in  Ohio.  She  was 
in  a  delicate  condition,  and  unfit  to  undertake  the  long  and  fatiguing 
trip  she  was  required  to  make. 

The  Indians  went  into  the  house,  and  took  such  plunder  as  they 
wanted  to  carry  away,  set  fire  to  the  cabin,  and  began  their  home- 
ward journey  with  their  six  prisoners.  When  they  arrived  at  a 
point  near  where  Logan  Court  House,  West  Virginia,  is  located, 
Mrs.  Davidson  gave  birth  to  a  child.  After  allowing  the  mother 
a  rest  of  two  hours,  the  march  to  Ohio  was  resumed.     The  birth  of 


and  Southwest  Virginia  463 

the   child  must  have   been  premature,   as  it   was   drowned   by   the 
Indians  the  next  day  on  account  of  its  feeble  condition. 

Mrs.  Davidson  and  the  captive  children  were  treated  with  such 
leniency  while  they  were  making  the  journey,  that  she  became 
hopeful  they  would  be  kindly  treated  after  their  arrival  at  the 
Indian  towns.  In  this,  however,  she  was  sadly  disappointed.  Soon 
after  they  arrived  at  their  towns,  the  Indians  tied  the  two  daughters 
of  Mrs.  Davidson  to  trees,  and  shot  them  to  death  in  the  presence 
of  their  mother.  Her  son  was  given  to  an  old  squaw  for  adoption. 
While  crossing  a  river  the  squaw  upset  her  canoe,  and  the  boy,  who 
was  with  her,  was  drowned.  What  became  of  the  Broomfield 
children  was  never  known,  and  it  is  possible  they  shared  the  same 
fate  of  the  little  girls  who  were  shot. 

Mrs.  Davidson  was  sold  to  a  Frenchman,  in  Canada,  in  whose 
family  she  remained  as  a  servant  until  she  was  found  and  rescued 
by  her  husband  in  the  fall  of  1794.  Two  years  after  her  cap- 
ture Mr.  Davidson  made  an  unsuccessful  trip  to  the  Shawnee  towns 
in  search  of  his  wife.  On  his  second  trip,  in  1794,  he  received 
information  from  an  old  Indian  as  to  her  whereabouts,  and  was 
guided  by  the  Indian  to  Canada.  He  stopped  one  day  at  a  farm 
house  to  get  dinner,  and  what  followed  is  thus  related  by  Dr.- 
Bickley : 

"When  he  got  into  the  Canada  settlements,  he  stopped  at  the 
house  of  a  wealthy  French  farmer,  to  get  a  meal's  victuals,  and  to 
inquire  the  way  to  some  place  where  he  had  heard  she  was.  He 
noticed  a  woman  passing  him,  as  he  entered  the  house,  but  merely 
bowed  to  her  and  went  in.  Asking  for  his  dinner,  he  seated  him- 
self, and  was,  perhaps,  running  over  in  his  mind,  the  chances  of 
finding  his  wife,  when  again  the  woman  entered.  She  laid  down 
her  wood,  and  looked  at  the  stranger  steadily  for  a  moment,  when 
she  turned  to  her  mistress  and  said:  '/  know  that  man.'  'Well, 
who  is  he?'  said  the  French  lady.  'It  is  my  husband!  Andrew 
Davidson,  I  am  your  wife.'  Mr.  Davidson  could  scarcely  believe 
his  senses.  When  he  last  saw  her,  she  was  a  fine,  healthy-looking 
woman;  her  hair  was  black  as  coal,  but  now  her  head  was  gray, 
and  she  looked  many  years  older  than  she  should  have  looked. 
Yet  it  was  her,  though  he  declared  nothing  but  her  voice  seemed  to 
say    she    was    Rebecca    Davidson.      Soon    the    French    gentleman 


464  History  of  Tazewell  County 

returned,  and  being  a  humane  man,  gave  up  Rebecca  to  her  husband, 
also  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  and  next  morning  sent  them  on 
their  way  rejoicing." 

The  happily  reunited  husband  and  wife  returned  as  quickly  as 
possible  to  the  vicinity  of  their  former  home,  and  settled  at  the 
mouth  of  Abb's  Valley  on  a  farm  which  was  owned  some  ten  years 
ago  by  A.  C.  Davidson.  They  were  so  fortunate  as  to  have  and 
raise  another  family  of  children,  and  a  number  of  their  descendants 
are  now  living  in  Tazewell  County,  and  in  Mercer  County,  West 
Virginia. 

OTHER    MASSACRES    RELATED    BY    BICKLEY. 

There  were  other  dastardly  outrages  inflicted  by  the  Indians 
upon  the  Tazewell  settlers,  whereof  the  dates  and  circumstances 
were  uncertain.  Dr.  Bickley  wrote  briefly  about  four  of  the  occur- 
rences, and  as  I  have  been  unable  to  get  any  further  facts  connected 
therewith  I  will  reproduce  what  he  said  of  them: 

MURDER    OF    WILLIAM    WHITLEY. 

"William  Whitley  lived  in  Baptist  valley,  and  had  been  out  on 
a  bear  hunt.  He  came  home,  and  finding  that  a  choice  dog  was 
gone,  started  the  following  morning  to  look  for  him.  The  day 
passed  off  and  he  did  not  return.  His  family  became  uneasy  and  a 
company  started  out  to  hunt  for  him.  They  had  not  gone  far,  how- 
ever, when  they  met  a  man  named  Scaggs,  who  had  passed  a  mur- 
dered man  at  the  mouth  of  Dick's  Creek.  The  company  pushed  on 
and  identified  the  man  to  be  Whitley,  He  was  dreadfully  multi- 
lated — his  bowels  torn  out  and  stretched  upon  the  bushes,  his  heart 
in  one  place,  and  liver  in  another.  A  hole  was  opened,  and  the  frag- 
ments gathered  up  and  interred.     This  happened  in  1786. 

MOFFIT's    CHILDREN    CAPTURED. 

"Capt.  Moflit  lived  near  Clinch  river,  on  the  plantation  now 
owned  by  Kiah  Harman.  Two  of  his  children  were  attending  to 
a  sugar  camp,  when  they  were  captured  and  taken  off  to  the  Indian 
towns  in  the  west.  Whether  the  boys  ever  got  back  is  unknown, 
as  Captain  JNIoffit  soon  afterward  moved  to  Kentucky,  where  some 
of  his  descendants  still  reside. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  465 


RAY  S    FAMILY    KILLED. 

"I  have  been  unable  to  learn  anything  of  the  partieulars  of  this 
occurrence,  more  than  the  bare  fact,  that  Joseph  Ray  and  his 
family  were  killed  by  the  Indians,  on  Indian  Creek,  in  1788  or  '9. 
It  is  from  this  circumstance  that  Indian  Creek  has  taken  its  name. 

DANIEL    HARMAN     KILLED. 

"Daniel  Harman  left  his  house,  on  the  head  of  Clinch,  on  a  fine 
morning  in  the  fall  of  1791,  for  the  purpose  of  killing  a  deer. 
Where  he  went  for  that  purpose,  is  not  known,  but  having  done  so, 
he  started  for  home  with  the  deer  fastened  to  the  cantle  of  his 
saddle.  Harman  was  a  great  hunter,  and  owned  a  choice  rifle, 
remarkable  for  the  beauty  of  its  finish,  and  the  superior  structure 
of  its  triggers,  which  were,  as  usual,  of  the  double  kind.  So  strong 
was  the  spring  of  these,  that  when  sprung,  the  noise  might  be 
heard  for  a  considerable  distance.  He  was  riding  a  large  horse, 
fleet,  and  spirited,  and  had  got  within  a  mile  of  home,  and  was 
passing  through  a  bottom,  near  the  present  residence,  and  on  the 
lands  of  Mr.  William  O.  George,  when  suddenly  a  party  of  Indians 
sprang  from  behind  a  log,  and  fired  on  him.  He  was  unhui-t,  and 
putting  spurs  to  his  horse,  away  he  went  through  the  heavy  timber, 
forgetting  all  other  danger,  in  his  precarious  situation.  On  he 
went,  but  his  horse,  passing  too  near  a  tree,  struck  the  rider's  knee, 
breaking  his  leg,  and  throwing  him  from  his  horse.  In  a  few 
minutes  the  savages  were  upon  him,  and  with  their  tomahawks, 
soon  put  an  end  to  his  sufferings.  The  horse  continued  his  flight 
til  he  got  to  the  house,  at  which  were  several  of  the  neighbors,  who 
immediately  went  to  look  after  Harman.  Passing  near  the  Indians, 
they  heard  the  click  of  Harman's  well-know  trigger.  A  panic  struck 
the  men,  and  running  in  zigzig  lines,  they  made  a  rapid  retreat, 
leaving  the  Indians  to  silently  retrace  their  steps  from  the  settle- 
ment." 

LAST   HOSTILE   INDIAN    INVASION. 

The  last  invasion  of  the  territory  that  afterward  constituted  the 
county  of  Tazewell,  was  made  by  the  Indians  in  1792.  A  band  of 
Shawnees  slipped  into  the  settlements  on  Bluestone,  and  the  head 
of  Clinch,  on  a  horse-stealing  expedition.  The  Indians  had  found 
it  more  profitable  to  take  horses  than  scalps  from  the  white  men. 

TH— 30 


466 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


They  would  take  the  stolen  horses  to  Canada,  where  they  always 
found  a  good  market  for  the  already  famous  horses  that  were  being 
bred  in  the  Clinch  Valley.  There  must  have  been  a  pretty  large 
company  of  Indians  in  this  last  foray  they  made  to  Tazewell,  as 
they  occupied  but  a  little  while  in  collecting  about  eighty  good 
horses  and  starting  on  the  return  trip  to  their  homes  beyond  the 
Ohio  River. 

The  first  night  after  starting  on  their  return  journey  the  Indians 
were  encamped  a   short  distance   from  the   settlements;   and  their 


Porti-ait  of  'Squire  Thomas  Peery,  one  of  the  first  generation  bom 
in  Tazewell  County.  He  was  bom  Feb.  25th,  1794,  and  died  July  2nd, 
1860.  The  beautiful  boy  standing  by  him  is  his  son,  Thomas  liitchie 
Peery,  who  was  killed  in  battle  at  Winchester,  Va.,  in  September,  1864, 
at  the  age  of  twenty  years, 

presence  was  accidently  discovered  by  a  white  man  who  had  been 
out  scouting  or  hunting.  He  hastened  to  the  Bluestone  and  Clinch 
settlements,  and  gave  notice  of  his  discovery  to  the  inhabitants  and 
the  garrisons  at  Bailey's  and  Wynne's  forts.  Major  Robert 
Crockett,  who  was  then  commanding  the  military  frontier  forces  of 
Wythe  County,  was  making  his  headquarters  at  Wynne's  fort,  where 
he  had  a  small  garrison.  By  noon  on  the  day  he  got  the  information 
about  the  Indians,  Major  Crockett  had  organized  two  companies 
of  mounted  riflemen,  one  company  fi-om  Bluestone,  and  one  from 
the  head  of  the  Clinch.  He  assembled  his  forces  at  a  point  near 
what  is  now  called  the  "Round  House"  which  was  built  in  about 


and  Southwest  Virginia  467 

1840  by  'Squire  Thomas  Peery,  and  occujDied  by  him  as  a  residence 
until  his  death  in  1860.  Judge  David  E.  Johnston  carefully  col- 
lected the  facts  connected  with  this,  the  last,  incursion  into  Tazewell 
by  the  Indians;  and,  in  his  History  of  the  Middle  New  River  Set- 
tlements, thus  relates  what  followed  the  gathering  of  the  men  to 
pursue  the  red  men : 

"Major  Crockett  moved  off  with  his  men  to  follow  the  Indians, 
having  no  time  to  prepare  provisions  for  the  journey.  They  took 
the  route  down  Horse  Pen  Creek,  and  to  the  head  of  Clear  fork, 
and  down  to  the  Tug  and  on  to  the  mouth  of  Four  Pole,  then  cross- 
ing the  dividing  ridge  between  the  waters  of  the  Sandy  and  Guyan- 
dotte  Rivers.  They  sent  Gilbert  and  Lusk  forward  to  a  Buffalo  lick 
on  a  creek  flowing  into  the  Guyandotte,  to  secure  if  possible  a  sup- 
ply of  game.  It  appears  by  the  report  of  Major  Crockett,  found 
in  the  Virginia  Calendar  Papers,  that  this  was  on  the  twenty  fourth 
day  of  July  that  Gilbert  and  Lusk  set  out  for  and  reached  the  lick, 
where  they  found  and  killed  a  deer  and  wounded  an  elk,  which  they 
followed,  some  distance;  being  unable  to  overtake  it  they  returned 
to  the  lick  to  get  the  deer  they  had  killed.  On  passing  along  the 
Buffalo  path,  near  which  they  had  left  the  deer,  Gilbert  in  front, 
discovered  a  stone  hanging  by  pawpaw  bark  over  the  path.  Gilbert 
in  an  instant  discerning  what  it  meant  called  on  Lusk  to  look  out. 
He  had  scarcely  uttered  the  words,  when  the  Indians  fired,  a  ball 
from  one  of  their  guns  penetrating  the  hand  of  Lusk,  in  which  he 
carried  his  gun,  which  caused  him  to  drop  the  same.  The  Indians 
immediately  began  to  close  in  on  them,  Gilbert  putting  Lusk  behind 
him,  and  holding  the  Indians  off  by  the  presentation  of  his  gun, 
Gilbert  and  Lusk  kept  retreating  as  rapidly  as  they  could  with 
safety.  Lusk's  wounded  hand  was  bleeding  freely,  and  he  became 
sick  from  the  loss  of  blood,  and  begged  Gilbert  to  leave  him  and 
get  away;  this  Gilbert  refused  to  do,  saying  that  he  promised  his, 
Lusk's  mother,  to  take  care  of  him.  Finally  the  Indians  got  close 
enough  to  knock  Gilbert  down  with  their  tomahawks,  which  they 
did,  and  an  Indian  rushed  up  to  scalp  him,  when  Gilbert  shot  him 
dead,  but  another  one  of  the  Indians  dispatched  Gilbert,  and  Lusk 
became  a  prisoner.  The  Indians  immediately  hurried  with  their 
prisoner  down  the  creek  to  Guyandotte,  and  then  down  the  river  to 
the  mouth  of  Island  Creek,  and  went  into  camp  behind  a  rocky 


468  History  of  Tazewell  County 

ridge  called  Hog  Back  at  the  present  day.  Major  Crockett  instead 
of  following  the  tracks  of  Gilbert  and  Liisk  to  the  lick,  had  turned 
to  the  west,  and  crossed  a  ridge  onto  the  right  fork  of  Island 
Creek,  and  reached  and  camped  at  a  point  within  two  miles  of  the 
Indian  camp,  but  without  knowledge  of  his  proximity  to  them. 
During  the  night  Lusk  suffered  much  with  his  hand  until  an  Indian 
went  off  and  brought  some  roots  which  he  beat  up  into  a  pulp,  made 
a  poultice,  and  bound  his  hand  which  afforded  relief.  Early  on  the 
morning  of  the  25th  the  Indians  took  to  their  canoes,  which  they 
had  left  at  this  point  on  their  way  to  the  settlements,  and  rapidly 
descending  the  river  to  its  mouth  crossed  the  Ohio.  On  reaching 
the  northern  bank,  they  placed  their  canoes  in  charge  of  some  of 
their  party  and  taking  Lusk  with  them  crossed  the  country." 

Judge  Johnston  does  not  mention  the  fact  that  Major  Crockett 
and  his  men  overtook  the  Indians,  made  an  attack  upon  them,  and 
recovered  most  of  the  horses  tliat  had  been  stolen.  Writing  about 
what  happened  after  Crockett  and  his  riflemen  left  the  Clinch 
Valley,  Bickley  says: 

"They  made  forced  marches,  and  came  up  with  them  (the 
Indians)  about  one  o'clock  at  night,  at  what  is  called  the  Islands  of 
Guyandotte.  Some  of  the  whites  were  for  attacking  them  immed- 
iately, and  others  wished  to  wait  till  morning,  when  they  might  see. 
While  thus  in  parley,  the  Indians  in  the  meantime,  preparing  for 
some  movement,  a  horse  neighed;  in  a  moment  a  fire  was  opened 
upon  them,  but  to  no  effect.  The  Indians  raised  a  yell,  secured  a 
few  of  the  horses,  and  fled,  leaving  a  good  breakfast,  and  several 
dozen  pairs  of  moccasins  to  be  taken  home  as  trophies  by  the  whites. 
The  breakfast  of  bears'  meat  and  turkey  was  consumed  by  the 
whites,  M'hose  appetites  were  too  keen  to  suffer  themselves  to  enter 
into  speculation  as  to  the  probable  nicety  of  their  runaway  cooks." 

The  period  of  anxiety  and  suffering,  and  sorrow  and  tragedy, 
was  at  last  ended  for  the  pioneers.  And  the  phantoms  of  fear  and 
death,  in  the  shape  of  a  red  man,  were  no  longer  to  disturb  the 
people  on  the  Clinch. 


Ante-Bellum,  or  Formative  Period 


From  Organization  of  Tazewell  County 
to  1861 


ANTE-BELLUM,  OR  FORMATIVE 
PERIOD 


CHAPTER  I. 

ORGANIZATION   OF  TAZEWELL  COUNTY. 

Among  the  many  interesting  events  that  occurred  in  the  early 
history  of  Tazewell  County,  the  organization  of  its  county  govern- 
ment is  of  supreme  importance.  The  last  section  of  the  act  which 
created  the  county  says:  "This  act  shall  commence  and  be  in  force 
from  and  after  the  first  day  of  May  next,"  meaning  the  first  day 
of  May,  1800.  By  authority  of  the  act,  the  justices  who  composed 
the  county  court  held  their  first  term  at  the  house  of  Henry  Har- 
man,  Jr.,  on  the  second  Tuesday  in  June,  1800. 

Unfortunately,  a  few  of  the  first  pages  of  the  order  book  of 
the  court  have  been  mutilated  and  lost.  It  is,  therefore,  impossible 
to  give  the  names  of  all  of  the  justices  who  were  present  and  sit- 
ting at  the  first  term,  or  to  detail  any  of  the  proceedings,  except 
from  hearsay  or  tradition.  From  entries  on  pages  of  the  order  book, 
following  immediately  those  torn  off,  it  is  made  evident  that  the 
first  court  sitting  was  composed  in  part,  if  not  entirely,  of  the  fol- 
lowing justices:  David  Ward,  George  Peery,  Robert  Wallace, 
Wm.  Neal,  Samuel  Walker,  Henry  Bowen,  and  David  Hanson. 

The  act  of  the  General  Assembly  directed  the  justices  to  qualify 
the  sheriff  and  appoint  a  clerk.  It  is  a  reasonable  conclusion  that 
the  justices  promptly  complied  with  these  requirements  of  the  act. 
James  Maxwell  qualified  as  sheriff,  and  John  Ward  was  appointed 
clerk  of  the  county.  If  other  candidates  offered  for  the  clerkship, 
their  names  are  unknown,  owing  to  the  mutilation  and  loss  of  the 
front  pages  of  the  first  order  book.  It  is  also  probable  that  the 
location  of  the  county  seat  was  selected  at  this,  the  first  term  of 
the  court.  Of  course  there  was  a  contention  over  the  location,  as 
had  been  the  case  in  nearly  every  county  formed  after  Virginia 
became  a  state.  Tradition  says  there  was  a  very  sharp  contro- 
versy over  the  selection  of  a  site  for  the  county  seat  of  Tazewell 
County.     Two  locations  were  offered  and  urged  for  adoption.     One 

(471) 


472  History  of  Tazewell  County 

was  where  the  town  of  Tazewell  is  situated,  and  the  other  at  or 
near  the  forks  of  Clinch  River — one  and  a  half  miles  east  of  the 
present  county  seat.  The  justices  being  unable,  or  loth,  to  deter- 
mine the  most  suitable  location,  it  is  said  that  the  advocates  of  the 
two  competing  locations  agreed  for  each  to  choose  a  champion,  and 
have  an  old-fashioned  rough-and-tumble  fight  to  settle  the  dispute. 
Tradition  affirms  that  the  qhampion  who  battled  for  the  present 
site  proved  the  better  man;  and  here  the  county  seat  was  located. 
This  story  may  be  a  myth ;  but  on  the  second  day  of  the  first  term 
of  tlie  court,  tlie  following  order  was  entered: 

"Hezekiah  Hannan  being  appointed  yesterday  to  lay  off .  the 
land  offered  by  William  Peery  and  Samuel  Ferguson  for  the  use 
of  the  county  made  report  that  he  had  laid  off  twenty-three  acres 
and  twenty-eight  square  poles,  Ten  acres  and  Twenty  eight  square 
poles  being  of  Ferguson's  land  and  thirteen  acres  of  Wm.  Peery's 
land,  whereupon  the  court  were  unanimously  of  the  opinion  that  the 
public  buildings  should  be  erected  on  the  land  so  laid  off  and  that 
William  George,  James  Witton  and  John  Crockett  do  lay  off  and 
circumscribe  two  acres  for  the  purpose  of  building  the  public  Build- 
ings for  this  county,  and  the  balance  of  the  land  remain  for  the 
benefit  of  the  County,  only  saving  and  reserving  to  the  said  Peery 
four  quarter  acre  lots  out  of  the  land  he  this  day  conveyed  to  the 
County,  and  reserving  to  the  said  Ferguson  two  quarter  acre  lots 
out  of  the  land  he  this  day  conveyed  to  the  County." 

This  order  shows  that  the  court  had  aocepted,  and  unanimously 
ratified,  the  result  of  the  fistic  battle  between  the  champions  of 
the  two  communities  that  competed  for  the  county  seat.  On  the 
same  day  other  orders  were  entered  by  the  court,  as  follows : 

"Joseph  Moore  came  into  court  and  proffered  to  lay  of  the  lots 
for  a  town  where  the  public  buildings  are  to  be  erected  in  quarter 
acre  lots  for  the  price  of  33  1/3  cents  each,  and  it  is  ordered  that 
William  George,  James  Witton  and  John  Crockett  do  attend  as 
Commissioners  and  direct  the  surveying  of  the  lots  tomorrow." 

"Ordered  that  David  Ward  and  Samuel  Walker  be  Commis- 
sioners to  contract  for  the  building  of  a  jail  for  this  county,  and 
that  they  do  advertise  the  same  in  the  most  public  places  to  be  let 
to  the  lowest  bidder  at  next  court." 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


473 


"Ordered  tliat  Court  adjourn  until  Court  in  course  and  they 
will  meet  next  Court  at  the  place  appointed  for  erecting  the  iDublic 
buildings  for  this  County." 

It  will  be  observed  that  no  commissioners  were  appointed  to 
have  a  court  house  erected,  though  the  adjourning  order  of  the 
court  stated  that  the  next  term  should  be  held  at  the  place  appointed 
for  erecting  the  public  buildings  for  the  county.  This  seeming 
neglect  to  provide  a  permanent  building  for  the  courts  is  explained 
by  the  fact  that  only  a  temporary   structure  could  be   erected  in 


Col.  Henry  Bowen,  son  of  Lieut.  Rees  Bowen  who  fell  at  King's 
Mountain.  He  was  bom  at  Maiden  Spring  on  March  18th,  1770,  and 
died  at  the  place  of  his  birth  April  18th,  1850.  He  was  one  of  the 
justices  of  the  first  county  court  of  Tazewell,  w^as  a  Captain  in  the 
War  of  1812,  represented  the  county  several  times  in  the  House  of 
Delegates,  and  left  a  splendid  estate  to  his  two  sons.  General  Rees  T. 
and  Col.  Henry  S.  Bowen. 

the  thirt}'  days  that  would  intervene  between  the  June  and  July 
terms.  It  was  determined  that  a  temporary  building  should  be 
provided  by  recurring  to  the  community  system  adopted  by  the 
pioneer  settlers  when  they  built  their  cabin  homes,  and  when  all 
the  men  of  a  community  would  gather  together  and  build  the  cabin 
of  a  new  settler  in  a  day.  Tradition  further  relates  that  citizens 
from  all  sections  of  the  county  assembled  at  the  chosen  county  seat 
on  a  certain  day.  They  brought  along  their  axes,  broadaxes,  and 
other  tools;  and  cut  down  trees,  hewed  the  logs  and  raised  them 


474 


Plistory  of  Tazewell  County 


into  position,  rived  boards  and  placed  them  on  the  roof,  hewed 
puncheons  for  the  floor,  and  completed  a  court  house  for  the  already 
great  county  of  Tazewell  in  a  single  day.  Perhaps  the  building 
was  rough  in  appearance  and  not  verj'^  capacious,  but  it  was  a  temple 
of  justice  for  our  worthy  ancestors  and  served  their  purposes  well 
until  a  pennanent  building  was  erected. 

William  George,  James  Witten  and  John  Crockett,  commis- 
sioners, had  laid  off  and  circumscribed  two  acres  for  the  public 
buildings,  one  acre  on  the  north  side  and  one  acre  on  the  south  side 
of  the  present  Main  Street  of  the  town  of  Tazewell.     The  tern- 


cT^y^,. 


/ 

z 

3 

^ 

S 

f 

ijJ^yi('«^*^«/'^-Wj  f^.4iran'  JlrvA. 


This  old  plat  was  made  by  Joseph  Moore  who  laid  off  the  to\m 
in  July,  1800.  The  author  wrote  his  description  of  the  little  log 
court  house  and  jail  from  tradition  and  imagination  two  years  before 
he  discovered  the  plat.  It  verifies  both  tradition  and  his  imagination. 
I  found  in  the  proceedings  of  the  county  court  the  order  which  directed 
the  erection  of  the  stocks,  shown  on  plat  at  rear  of  the  jail. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  475 

porary  court  house  was  built  on  tlie  lot  where  tlie  Lynch  building 
now  stands,  and  which  is  occupied  by  Fuller  Brothers  with  their 
department  store.  And  the  jail  was  located  on  the  south  side  of 
the  street  on  the  lot  where  the  St.  Clair  building  stands,  which 
is  occupied  by  Will  Ed  Peery  with  his  hardware  store. 

It  must  have  been  a  very  proud  and  happy  day  for  the  pioneers 
who  assembled  in  July,  1880,  to  witness  and  participate  in  the 
dedication  of  the  new  court  house,  which  was  emblematic  of  the 
heoric  struggle  they  had  made  for  the  founding  of  their  county 
republic.  The  event,  no  doubt,  brought  together  the  entire  male 
jDopulation  of  the  county;  and  it  is  almost  certain  that  many  of  the 
women  and  children  were  also  in  attendance.  This  term  of  the 
county  court  opened  its  proceedings  as  follows : 

"At  a  court  held  for  Tazewell  County,  July  1st,  1800,  in  the 
new  court  house  according  to  adjournment  of  the  last  court. 

"Present  David  Ward,  George  Peery,  Robert  Wallace,  Wm. 
Neal,  Saml.  Walker,  Henry  Bowen,  and  David  Hanson." 

The  justices  in  those  days  were  appointed  for  life;  and  the 
seven  who  held  the  July  term  of  the  court  had  previously  been 
appointed  and  served  as  justices  of  Russell  and  Wythe  counties — 
David  Ward,  Henry  Bowen,  and  David  Hanson  for  Russell;  and 
George  Peery,  Robert  Wallace,  Wm.  Neal  and  Saml.  Walker  for 
Wythe.  They,  by  operation  of  the  then  existing  statute  laws, 
became  a  part  of  the  court  for  the  newly  erected  county;  and 
apparently  had  authority  to  organize  the  county  before  the  jus- 
tices to  be  named  by  the  governor  and  the  state  council  had  received 
their  commissions.  Owing  to  the  mutilation  of  the  order  book, 
there  is  but  little  to  be  learned  about  the  proceedings  of  the  court 
at  the  July  term,  and  nothing  whatever  of  the  August  term. 

At  the  September  term  William  George,  John  Crockett,  James 
Witten  and  Thomas  Harrisson,  who  had  been  appointed  commis- 
sioners for  the  purpose,  reported  that  they  had  made  a  sale  of  the 
town  lots;  and  they  were  directed,  as  commissioners,  to  convey  the 
lots  to  the  several  purchasers. 

Leave  was  granted  John  Peery,  upon  the  return  of  a  writ  of  ad 
quod  damnum,  to  erect  a  water  grist  mill.  After  noting  the  execu- 
tion of  the  writ  and  the  verdict  of  the  jury,  the  order  is  as  follows: 


476  History  of  Tazewell  County 

"On  consideration  whereof  &  for  reasons  appearing  to  the  court 
it  is  ordered  that  the  sd.  Peery  have  leave  to  build  the  sd.  mill  & 
Dam  agreeable  to  the  verdict  returned  by  the  Sheriff  on  his  making 
good  the  highway  that  will  be  injured  by  the  sd.  Dam  &  making 
a  slope  for  the  passage  of  fish,  which  together  with  the  writ  is 
ordered  to  be  executed." 

The  mill  and  dam  were  duly  erected  on  Clinch  River  about 
a  mile  below  Pisgah.  At  that  time  there  was  an  abundance  of  fine 
fish  in  the  river;  and  the  court  took  the  precaution  to  order  that  a 
slope  should  be  placed  on  the  dam  so  as  to  give  the  fish  unobstructed 
passage  up  the  stream. 

James  Maxwell  had  been  acting  as  sheriff  of  the  county  under 
temporary  appointment,  but  had  not  received  his  commission  from 
the  governor.  The  court  had  to  recommend  three  citizens  for  the 
place,  one  of  whom  was  to  be  selected  by  the  governor  for  appoint- 
ment. In  compliance  with  this  rule  the  court  placed  upon  the  record 
the  following  order:  "Ordered  that  James  Maxwell,  George  Peery, 
&  Robert  Wallace  be  recommended  to  the  govn  &  honl  privy  Council 
as  fit  and  capable  persons  to  act  as  sheriff  of  Tazewell  county." 
Maxwell  was  subsequently  appointed  by  the  governor  and  council 
and  acted  as  the  first  sheriff'  of  the  county. 

An  order  was  made  appointing  David  Ward,  Samuel  Walker, 
James  Thompson  and  George  Peery  commissioners  to  publish  notices 
and  ask  for  bids  for  building  a  court  liouse,  "the  said  court  house 
to  be  corapleteh'^  finished  in  a  workmanlike  manner  on  or  before  the 
first  day  of  May,  1802." 

Much  attention  was  given  to  the  public  roads  at  this  and  subse- 
quent terms  of  the  court.  The  petition  sent  to  the  General  Assembly 
for  a  new  county  had  urged  that  the  highways  had  been  greatly 
neglected  by  the  authorities  of  Russell  and  Wythe  counties.  So, 
at  the  September  term,  1800,  the  county  court  began  to  remedy  the 
evil  complained  of,  and  at  each  succeeding  term  for  several  years 
thereafter  the  roads  were  made  a  matter  of  leading  importance. 
Viewers  for  new  roads  and  surveyors  for  those  already  in  existence 
were  appointed.  There  were  no  graded  roads  in  the  county,  and 
the  new  roads  that  were  opened  were  simply  cleared  of  trees  and 
brush,  and  located  on  the  best  natural  grades  obtainable,  while  those 


and  Southwest  Virginia  477 

that  crossed  mountains  and  ridges  went  up  a  spur  on  one  side  and 
down  a  spur  on  the  other  side. 

Orders  entered  by  the  court  at  the  October  term,  worthy  of 
mention,  are: 

"Ordered  that  the  overseers  of  the  poor  do  bind  William  Roberts 
an  apprentice  to  William  Smith  according  to  law  to  learn  the  art 
and  mistery  of  wheelright." 

"Ordered  that  John  Powers  be  appointed  a  constable  in  this 
county." 

"John  Peery,  Joseph  Davidson,  Thomas  Witten,  William  George, 
John  Thompson,  Hezekiah  Whitt,  Thomas  Gillespie,  Hezekiah 
Harman,  &  John  Tollett  produced  a  commission  from  his  Excellency 
the  governor  appointing  them  justices  of  the  peace  in  &  for  the 
County  of  Tazewell  &  thereupon  they  took  the  necessary  oaths  of 
office  accordingly." 

At  the  November  term  the  following  was  the  first  order  entered: 

"William  Hall,  James  Thompson,  and  James  Browti,  gents, 
produced  a  commission  from  his  Excellency,  James  Monroe,  Esq., 
Governor  of  this  Commonwealth,  appointing  them  justices  in  and 
for  the  County  of  Tazewell,  and  thereupon  they  took  the  necessary 
oaths  of  office,  and  thereupon  they  took  their  seats  accordingly." 

The  county  court  of  Tazewell  County  then  consisted  of  nine- 
teen justices,  twelve  of  whom  had  been  commissioned  by  Governor 
Monroe,  and  seven  of  whom  liad  been  justices  in  Russell  and  Wythe 
before  the  territory  in  wliich  they  were  living  was  formed  into 
Tazewell  County. 

James  Thompson,  who  had  been  appointed  by  tlie  court  Com- 
monwealth's Attorney  for  the  county,  made  his  first  appearance  for 
the  Commonwealth  at  this  term.  The  first  grand-jury  impanelled  in 
the  county  was  constituted  and  reported  as  follows: 

"A  grand  jury,  to-wit:  Andrew  Thompson,  foreman,  James  Wit- 
ten,  William  Brooks,  Edley  Maxwell,  James  Sloan,  Thomas  Brew- 
ster, William  Witten,  William  Wynne,  James  Moore,  James  Cecil, 
William  Cecil,  George  Asbury,  Timothy  Rowark  (Roark),  John 
Young,  James  Lockheart,  John  Mcintosh,  William  Kidd,  and  John 
Peery,  Sen.,  being  sworn  a  grand  jury  of  Inquest  for  the  body  of 
this  County  having  received  their  charge  retired  to  consult  of  their 


478  History  of  Tazewell  County 

presentments,    and    after    some    time    returned    and    presented    as 
follows." 

The  list  was  not  preserved,  but,  from  the  entries  of  the  Com- 
monwealth's cases  in  the  order  book,  it  is  evident  there  were  no 
indictments  made,  and  only  presentments  for  misdemeanors.  Fol- 
lowing the  report  of  the  grand- jurj',  the  court  granted  permission 
for  the  first  tavern  opened  at  the  court  house,  as  follows: 

"On  the  motion  of  William  George  for  leave  to  keep  an  ordinary 
at  Tazewell  Court  House  for  the  term  of  one  year  it  is  ordered  that 
he  have  leave  to  keep  the  said  ordinary,  whereupon  he  together  with 
George  Peery  his  security  entered  into  and  acknowledged  their 
bond  according  to  law." 

When  the  court  convened  for  the  December,  1800,  term,  "Wil- 
liam George  and  William  Peery  produced  commissions  from  His 
Excellency  tlie  Governor  of  Virginia  appointing  them  coroners  for 
Tazewell  County." 

It  appears  that  between  the  ending  of  tlie  November  term  and 
the  beginning  of  the  December  term  the  name  "Jeffersonville"  had 
been  given  tlie  county  seat.  In  the  order  made  at  the  November 
term  granting  leave  to  William  George  to  keep  an  ordinary,  the 
county  court  had  designated  the  county  seat  "Tazewell  Court 
House."  But  in  an  order  entered  the  7th  of  December,  1800,  the 
court  says  "leave  is  granted  Thomas  Peery  to  keep  an  ordinary 
(tavern)  at  his  house  in  Jeffersonville."  The  name  was  given  in 
honor  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  who  had  just  been  elected  President  of 
the  United  States.  He  was  then  recognized  as  the  most  conspicuous 
and  potential  citizen  of  the  United  States  in  public  life ;  and  his 
splendid  principles  of  popular  government  had  the  solid  approval 
of  the  voters  of  Tazewell.  For  eighty  years  thereafter  the  county 
was  uniformly  steadfast  in  its  support  of  the  party  which  claimed 
to  stand  for  the  principles  of  government  enunciated  by  Jefferson. 

At  this  term  of  the  court,  Andrew  Thompson  was  appointed 
Commissioner  of  Revenue  for  the  year  1801.  The  assessments 
within  the  bounds  of  the  new  county  had  been  made  for  1800  by 
the  commissioners  of  Wythe  and  Russell.  Thompson's  appointment 
about  completed  the  civil  organization  of  the  county. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  479 

A  very  important  duty  then  devolved  upon  the  court,  that  of 
effecting  tlie  military  organization  of  Tazewell.  This  was  accom- 
plished by  the  court  entering  orders  recommending  certain  citizens 
to  the  Governor  and  Privy  Council  as  "fit  and  Capable"  persons  to 
act  as  officers  of  the  militia.  The  court  recommended:  John  Thomp- 
son as  Major  in  the  1st  Battalion  of  the  112th  Regiment;  John 
Ward  as  Major  of  2nd  Battalion  of  the  112th  Regiment;  Archibald 
Thompson,  Hezekiah  Harman,  and  Andrew  Davidson  as  Captains 
in  the  1st  Battalion  of  the  1 12th  Regiment;  John  Davidson,  Ambrose 
Hall,  and  John  Maxwell  as  Lieutenants  in  the  1st  Battalion  of  the 
112th  Regiment;  Elias  Harman,  John  Cartmill,  and  James  Peery 
as  Ensigns  in  the  1st  Battalion  of  the  112th  Regiment;  George 
Davidson  to  act  as  Captain,  William  Peery,  Jr.,  Lieutenant,  and 
William  Williams,  Ensign,  in  a  Company  of  Light  Infantry  for 
the  1st  Battalion  of  the  112th  Regiment;  Thomas  Ferguson,  James 
Witten,  and  Thomas  Greenup  as  Captains  in  the  2nd  Battalion  of 
the  112th  Regiment;  Reese  Bowen,  Abram  Eheart,  and  William 
Smith  as  Lieutenants  in  the  2nd  Battalion  of  the  112th  Regiment, 
Hugh  Wilson,  John  Cecil,  and  Samuel  Belcher  as  Ensigns  in  the  2nd 
Battalion  of  the  112th  Regiment;  Samuel  Witten  as  Captain,  Wil- 
liam Witten,  Jr.,  as  Lieutenant,  and  Reese  Gillespie  as  Ensign  of 
a  company  of  Light  Infantry  in  the  112th  Regiment. 

The  112th  Regiment,  when  organized,  consisted  of  eight  com- 
panies, each  with  fifty  men,  rank  and  file,  making  a  very  respectable 
organization  of  four  hundred  fighting  men.  That  they  were  a 
splendid  fighting  force  is  evidenced  by  the  names  of  the  men  who 
were  the  commissioned  officers.  They  came  chiefly  from  the  pioneer 
families,  and  some  of  them  were  veteran  Indian  fighters ;  while  most 
of  them  were  sons  of  the  pioneers,  and  had  used  their  rifles  in  more 
than  one  encounter  with  the  red  men. 


A  study  of  the  early  court  records  reveals  much  that  bears  upon 
the  social,  moral,  and  economic  conditions  that  prevailed  in  Taze- 
well at  the  time  the  county  was  organized.  This  is  why  I  have 
written  thus  much  and  will  write  more  about  the  proceedings 
of  the  first  county  court.  Preachers  were  few  and  far  between  in 
the  frontier  settlements  in  those  days ;  and  it  became  a  public 
necessity   for  authority  to  be  given  other  persons   than   regularly 


480  History  of  Tazewell  County 

ordained  ministers  to  celebrate  the  rites  of  matrimony  in  Tazewell 
County.  So,  I  find  that  the  county  court  on  the  ^rd  of  March, 
1801,  made  the  following  order: 

"Ordered  that  John  Tollett  be  authorized  to  celebrate  the  rites 
of  matrimony  in  tliis  County  according  to  law  and  thereupon  he  took 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  this  Commonwealth,  whereupon  he,  together 
with  Hezekiah  Harman  and  George  Peery  his  securities  entered 
into  and  acknowledged  their  bond  in  the  penal  sum  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollars  conditioned  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  trust 
reposed  in  him.  Thereupon  testimonials  is  granted  him  to  celebrate 
the  rites  of  matrimony  in  this  county." 

At  the  same  time  a  similar  order  was  entered  authorizing  David 
Ward  to  celebrate  the  rites  of  matrimony  in  the  county,  with  John 
Ward  and  James  M.  Campbell  as  his  securities.  Both  Tollett  and 
Ward  were  justices  of  tlie  peace  and  members  of  the  county  court. 

On  the  11th  of  May,  1801,  the  court  entered  four  judgments  to 
be  paid  in  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence.  These  judgments  must 
have  been  given  on  contracts  that  were  written  in  English  money, 
tliough  the  Congress  of  tlie  United  States  had  in  1785  adopted  the 
silver  dollar  as  the  unit;  and  on  the  2nd  of  April,  1792,  had  enacted 
that  "The  money  of  the  United  States  shall  be  expressed  in  dollars 
or  units,"  the  dollar  "to  be  the  value  of  a  Spanish  milled  dollar 
as  the  same  is  now  current,"  and  to  contain  3711/4  grains  of  pure 
silver.  The  same  act  of  Congress  fixed  the  weight  of  the  gold 
dollar  at  24'%  grains,  which  made  the  ratio  of  value  of  silver  to 
gold,  by  weight,  as  one  to  fifteen. 

When  Tazewell  County  was  organized  there  were  no  banks  of 
issue  in  Virginia,  and  comparatively'  no  paper  money  in  circulation 
in  the  frontier  counties.  A  mint  had  been  established  at  Phil- 
adelphia under  the  coinage  act  of  1792,  but  very  few,  if  any,  of 
the  minted  coins  had  been  brought  to  the  remote  settlements  on  the 
Clinch.  There  was,  however,  sufficient  specie  in  Tazewell  to  con- 
duct the  ordinary  business  of  the  inhabitants,  most  of  the  local 
commercial  transactions  being  conducted  by  barter.  The  coins  in 
circulation  here  were  mostly  of  English  mintage,  with  smaller 
portions  of  French  and  Spanish  coinage.  From  1780  until  the  close 
of  the  Revolutionary  War  hard  money  had  been  plentiful  in  the 
United  States.      This   condition  was   caused  by  the  large  disburs- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  481 

ments  made  by  the  British  and  Frendi  armies  and  navies  during 
the  closing  years  of  tlie  Revolution,  together  with  the  loans  nego- 
tiated by  the  Continental  Congress  and  our  Iieavy  commerce  witli 
the  West  Indies.  It  is  said  that  the  flow  of  specie  from  Europe  to 
America  was  so  heavy  that  tlie  drain  was  seriously  felt  in  France 
and  England. 

The  thrifty,  industrious  citizens  of  Tazewell  had  not  only  become 
self-sustaining,  but  had  been  sending  out  to  the  eastern  markets 
large  numbers  of  cattle  and  horses ;  and  were  bringing  back  in 
exchange  therefor,  gold  and  silver,  wliich  did  not  quickly  find  its 
way  back  to  the  East.  Careful  business  men  in  Tazewell  did  not 
accept  the  gold  and  silver  pieces  at  their  face  value,  but  had  money 
scales  and  weighed  each  piece  to  ascertain  its  actual  value.  Robert 
Barns,  the  Irish  schoolmaster,  who  settled  in  the  Cove,  died  in  1802; 
and  among  his  personal  effects  listed  by  the  appraisers  was  one 
money  scales.  

At  the  July  term  in  1801,  on  the  16th  day  of  the  month,  the 
sheriff  of  Tazewell  made  his  first  return  on  an  attachment,  which 
had  been  sued  out  by  Richard  Pemberton  vs.  Solomon  Roe.  The 
return  is  both  unique  and  amusing,  and  is  as  fo-llows: 

"Executed  on  one  fur  hat,  two  hunting  shirts  and  one  close 
bodied  coat."  At  the  August  term  judgment  was  given  the  plain- 
tiff against  the  defendent  for  three  pounds,  twelve  shillings  and 
four  pence ;  and  the  property  aforesaid  was  ordered  to  be  sold  by 
the  sheriff  to  satisfy  the  judgment. 

On  the  16th  of  July  the  court  entered  its  first  order  fixing 
tavern  rates  in  the  county  as  follows: 

"Ordered  that  the  tavern  rates  for  this  county  be  as  follows, 
to- wit: 

For  a   dinner ..25c 

For  a  breakfast  or  sujDper 17c 

For  lodging  in  clean  sheets  (one  shilling) 1 

For  whiskey  by  the  half  Pint  (one  shilling) S 

For  rum,  French  Brandy  or  wine  by  the  half  pt 25c 

For  Cider,  Beer  or  Mathalgalum  by  the  quart  (one) S 

For  Peach  or  apple  Brandy  by  tlie  half  Pint 121/2  t'ts 

For  corn  oats  or  barley  by  the  gallon  (one  shilling) S 

For  stable  for  hay  or  fodder  for  12  hours 121/2  cts 

ivr  Pasturage  for  12  hours 12l/^  cts 

TH— 31 


482  History  of  Tazewell  County 

In  fixing  the  rates  to  be  charged  by  the  tavern  keepers  the  first 
county  court  of  Tazewell  did  not  exercise  arbitrary  power,  but 
responded  to  the  requirements  of  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly 
enacted  on  the  26th  of  December,  1792.  The  act  was  mandatory; 
and  required  "every  county  court  in  this  Commonwealth  to  set  the 
rates  and  prices  to  be  paid  at  all  ordinaries  within  their  respective 
counties,  for  liquors,  diet,  lodging,  provender,  stableage,  fodder 
and  pasturage,  with  authority  to  increase  or  lessen  the  rates  at 
pleasure.  This  fixing  of  rates  had  to  be  done  at  least  twice  in  each 
year. 

The  first  tavern  rates  fixed  in  Tazewell  were  very  reasonable, 
and  the  bibulous  citizens  could  not  complain  of  the  excessive  prices 
charged  for  liquors.  One  of  the  beverages  named  in  the  above  table 
of  rates,  "Matlialgalum,"  was  a  peculiar  liquor  and  is  unknown  in 
this  day  and  generation.  It  was  something  like  the  nectar  of  the 
gods ;  and  was  made  of  honey  and  water,  boiled  and  fermented,  and 
often  enriched  with  spices.  The  Roman  name  for  this  drink  was 
"methegline."  Pliny  in  his  Natural  History,  published  A.  D. 
seventy-seven,  declared  it  has  all  the  bad  qualities  of  wine  but  not 
the  good  ones.  It  was  a  very  popular  beverage  in  ancient  times, 
both  with  the  cultured  nations  of  Southern  Europe  and  the  bar- 
barous tribes  of  the  Northern  regions.  The  Anglo-Saxons  intro- 
duced it  into  England,  and  called  it  mead.  The  recipe  for  this  once 
popular  beverage  was  brought  from  the  old  countries  by  our  ances- 
tors, but  they  found  no  material  in  the  wilderness  with  which  they 
could  make  it  when  they  came  here.  In  fact,  the  honey  or  hive  bees 
were  not  indigenous  to  America,  They  are  natives  to  the  warm 
climates  of  the  Old  World,  that  is,  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa;  and 
were  brought  to  America  from  Europe  by  the  Spanish,  French,  and 
English  colonists,  became  naturalized  here,  and  followed  the  white 
men  into  the  forests. 

David  Ward  and  Samuel  Walker  were  appointed  commissioners 
at  the  first  term  of  the  court  to  contract  for  the  building  of  a  jail; 
and  at  the  September  term,  1800,  David  Ward,  Samuel  Walker, 
James  Thompson,  and  George  Peery  were  appointed  commissioners 
to  advertise  for  bids  for  building  a  court  house.  I  find  that  William 
Smythe  (Smith)  contracted  to  build  the  jail  and  William  Williams 
the  court  house.  Among  the  first  claims  against  the  county  allowed 
by  the  court  were  those  held  by  these  contractors.     All  the  out- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  483 

standing  claims  were  as  follows  and  were,  on  the  1 1  th  of  September, 
1801,  ordered  to  be  paid: 

William  Smythe,  for  building  jail $220.00 

William  Williams,  for  building  court  house 938.00 

Joseph  Moore,  for  laying  off  lots  in  Jeffersonville..  12.00 
Samuel  Walker,  David  Ward,  and  George  Peery, 

for  letting  out  contract  for  court  house 20.00 

Samuel  Walker  and  David  Ward,  for  lettting  out 

contract  for  jail 6.00 

William  George,  for  Brandy  at  letting  out  of  the 

building  of  tlie  court  house 1.50 

Thomas  Harrisson,  for  Rum  and  Brandy  at  selling 

of  the  front  and  back  lots 4.16 

William  George,  John  Crockett,  James  Witton,  and 

Thomas  Harrisson  as  commissioners  to  attend 

the  laying  oft'  of  the  Town  lots 16.00 

Hezekiah  Harman,  for  surveying  the  public  lands..  5.25 
Henry  Harman,  for  trouble  sustained  in  holding 

the  first  court  at  his  house 2.00 

At  the  April  term  of  the  court  in  1802,  William  Smythe,  builder 
of  the  jail,  presented  a  claim  "for  extraordinary  services  done  to 
said  jail  amounting  to  forty  pounds  and  sixteen  shillings"  There- 
upon tlie  court  "went  and  viewed  the  extraordinary  services,"  and 
were  of  the  opinion  that  thirty  pounds  and  sixteen  shillings  was 
an  allowance  fully  adequate  for  the  services.  Smythe  at  first 
refused  to  receive  this  amount,  but  subsequently  accepted  it. 

The  court  house  was  a  frame  structure,  and  must  have  been  a 
pretty  neat  and  commodious  building,  as  it  cost  the  county  about 
one  thousand  dollars,  though  the  finest  timber  in  those  days  was 
almost  valueless.  It  was  erected  on  the  lot  where  the  temporary 
court  house  had  been  built  by  the  citizens  in  June,  1800,  and  was 
used  until  it  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  thirties  of  the  last  century. 

Thomas  Harrisson  was  granted  leave  at  the  April  term,  in  1802, 
to  keep  an  ordinary  at  his  home  in  Jeffersonville.  This  gave  the 
town  three  taverns,  but  not  more  than  enough  to  accommodate  the 
persons  who  came  to  town,  especially  on  court  days. 

The  proceedings  of  the  county  court  of  Tazewell,  recorded  in 
the  first  order  book,  are  very  instructive  as  to  the  character  and 


484 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


purposes  of  the  citizenship  of  the  county.  That  the  people  were 
intelligent,  ambitious  and  industrious  is  proven  by  the  deep  interest 
they  took  in  their  local  affairs,  and  the  dispatch  with  which  the 
county  government  was  put  in  operation.  The  justices  were  men 
of  high  character  and  sound  common  sense — a  dignified  body  of 
patriotic  citizens.  The  county  courts  in  Vii-ginia  at  that  time  were 
given  a  very  extensive  jurisdiction.  They  had  "authority  and  juris- 
diction to  hear  and  determine  all  causes  whatsoever,  then  depending 


The  present  court  house  of  Tazewell  County.  It  is  hardly  equal 
in  its  appointments  to  the  needs  and  importance  of  the  county,  but 
is  a  very  imposing  structure  when  compared  with  the  little  log  house 
first  used  as  a  temple  of  justice. 

or  thereafter  to  be  brought,  or  which  should  thereafter  be  brought 
in  any  of  the  said  courts  at  the  Common  Law  or  in  Chancery,  and 
criminal  cases,  except  such  as  where  the  judgment  upon  conviction 
would  involve  capital  punishment,  and  prosecutions  for  outlawry. 
This  very  ample  jurisdiction,  however,  did  not  inflate  the  excellent 
men  who  comjDosed  Tazewell's  first  county  court,  or  cause  them  to 
swerve  from  what  they  thought  was  right  in  making  their  judicial 
decisions.  Even  when  the  dignity  of  the  court  was  involved  they 
were  conservative  in  defending  it  against  contempts,  as  is  evidenced 


and  Southwest  Virginia  485 

by  the  following  orders  entered  by  the  court  on  the  1  ith  of  July, 
1803: 

"Ordered  that  David  Waggoner  be  fined  in  the  sum  of  five  dol- 
lars for  raising  a  riot  in  the  presence  of  the  Court. 

"Ordered  that  Abraham  Davis  be  fined  in  tlie  sum  of  two  dollars 
and  thirty  four  cents  for  raising  a  riot  in  the  presence  of  the  Court. 

"Ordered  that  Abraham  Davis  be  fined  in  the  sum  of  one  dollar 
&  sixty  six  cents  for  swearing  two  oaths  in  the  presence  of  the 
Court." 


486  History  of  Tazewell  County 


CHAPTER  II. 

BOUNDARIES  AND  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  TAZEWELL   COUNTY. 

A  few  years  after  the  creation  antl  organization  of  Tazewell 
County,  certain  citizens  of  Russell  County,  who  lived  on  territory 
adjoining  Tazewell  County,  petitioned  the  General  Assembly  to 
have  tlie  line  between  the  two  counties  so  altered  as  to  place  the 
said  territory  in  the  limits  of  Tazewell.  The  petition  was  acted 
upon  favorably  by  the  Legislature,  and  on  the  20th  day  of  Decem- 
ber, 1806,  the  following  act  was  passed: 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly,  That  all  that  part  of 
the  county  of  Russell  within  the  following  bounds,  to  wit:  Begin- 
ning on  the  top  of  Clinch  Mountain  at  the  head  of  Cove  Creek  on 
the  line  dividing  the  counties  of  Russell  and  Tazewell,  and  to  run 
a  straight  line  from  thence  to  Jacob  Francisco's  Mill,  from  thence 
a  direct  line  to  Daniel  Hortons,  (to  include  his  dwelling  house  in 
Tazewell,)  from  thence  a  straight  line  to  the  mouth  of  Cole  Creek, 
and  to  extend  on  the  same  direction  till  it  intersects  the  line  which 
divided  the  state  of  Virginia  from  Kentucky,  shall  be,  and  it  is 
hereby  added  to,  and  made  a  part  of  the  county  of  Tazewell." 

The  county,  as  then  formed,  was  bounded  on  the  north  by  Kana- 
wha County,  on  the  south  by  Wythe  and  Washington,  on  the  east 
by  Giles,  and  on  the  west  by  Russell  and  the  State  of  Kentucky. 
In  1806  the  whole  of  the  present  McDowell  County,  a  part  of 
Wyoming,  a  part  of  Mercer  County,  West  Virginia ;  and  about  one- 
half  of  Buchanan,  and  a  part  of  Giles  and  Bland  were  embraced 
in  the  bounds  of  Tazewell  County.  If  Tazewell  still  possessed  all 
this  territory,  she  would  be  the  richest  county  in  the  world,  as  she 
is  now  one  of  the  most  noted  and  best  in  the  United  States. 

Dr.  Bickley  in  his  history  of  Tazewell  County,  in  the  chapter 
headed:  "Formation,  And  Outline  Geography  of  Tazewell,  says 
of  the  county  as  it  then  existed: 

"The  county  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  State  of  Kentucky, 
Logan  and  Wyoming  counties,  Virginia ;  on  the  east  by  Mercer  and 
Giles ;  on  the  south  by  Wythe  and  Smyth  and  on  the  west  by  Rus- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  487 

sell.  It  has  a  superficial  area  of  about  1,920,000  square  acres,  or 
3,000  square  miles,  and  is  traversed  by  numerous  ranges  of  the 
Alleghany  and  Cumberland  mountains.  Clinch,  one  of  the  principal 
mountains,  passes  through  it  in  an  easterly  and  westerly  direction, 
about  forty  miles.  This  mountain  was  named,  as  will  be  seen  in 
the  chapter  on  mountains,  in  consequence  of  Clinch  river.  Rich 
mountain  passes  through  the  county  about  twenty  miles;  it  is  a 
branch  of  the  Clinch.  Garden  and  Brushy  mountains  are  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  county,  the  latter  being  the  county  line ;  they 
run  parallel  with  Clinch  mountain.  Paint  Lick  and  Deskins  moun- 
tains are  also  parallel  and  north  of  the  Rich  mountain.  They  are 
parts  of  the  same  range  with  East  river  and  Elk-horn,  being  sepa- 
rated by  the  Clinch,  in  the  valley  in  which  stands  the  town  of 
Jeffersonville.  There  are  no  other  mountains  deserving  of  notice, 
at  this  place,  except  the  Great  Flat  Top,  in  the  north-east  corner 
of  the  county. 

"The  county  is  traversed  by  many  streams;  some  of  considerable 
size;  the  principal  of  which  are  Clinch  river,  Bluestone,  La  Visee, 
Dry,  and  Tug  forks  of  Sandy  river  and  their  branches.  The  Clinch 
river  rises  from  three  springs ;  the  first  on  the  'divides'  about  ten 
miles  east  of  the  town  of  Jeffersonville ;  the  second  in  the  valley 
between  the  Elk-horn  (now  called  Buckhorn)  and  Rich  mountains; 
the  third  in  Thompson's  valley,  about  eight  miles  south-east  of  the 
county  seat.  The  two  first  unite  about  one  and  a  half  miles  east 
of  Jeffersonville^  and  flow,  in  a  westerly  direction,  about  twenty- 
five  miles,  and  unite  with  the  Maiden-Spring  fork,  and  thence  flow 
through  Russell,  Scott,  Lee,  and  a  part  of  Tennessee,  and  after 
receiving  the  Powell  river,  empty  into  the  Tennessee  about  sixty 
miles  above  Kingston. 

"Bluestone  creek  rises  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county;  flows 
in  a  north  easterly  direction,  and  empties  into  the  Great  Kanawha. 
The  different  branches  of  the  Sandy  River,  rising  in  this  county, 
flow  in  a  northerly  direction  and  empty  into  the  Ohio." 

All  the  mountains  mentioned  by  Bickley,  except  the  Great  Flat 
Top,  still  traverse  Tazewell  County,  but  they  are  greatly  changed 
in  appearance.  They  have  been  practically  denuded  of  the  splen- 
did forest  trees  that  crowned  their  peaks  and  magnified  the  won- 
drous beauty  of  each  mountain  side  from  crest  to  valley  beneath. 


488  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Rich  bluegrass  pastures  are  now  seen,  and  charm  the  eye,  where 
giant  poplar,  walnut,  sugar  maj^le.  hickory  and  other  magnificent 
forest  trees  grew  in  abundance.  Kent's  Ridge,  which  runs  through 
the  county  north  of  the  Clinch  River,  as  late  as  1852  was  almost  a 
continuous  forest  for  its  entire  length ;  and  all  the  ridges  in  the 
numerous  valleys  were  similarly  wooded.  The  rivers  and  creeks 
are  also  greatly  altered  in  their  appearance.  They  are  not  as  trans- 
parently clear,  nor  nearly  as  large  in  volume  as  they  were  in  the 
early  days  of  the  county.  The  present  condition  of  the  streams 
is  due  largely  to  the  destruction  of  the  forests. 

THE    MOUNTAINS. 

Bickley  in  his  "Descriptive  Geography"  of  the  county  writes 
further  about  its  mountains.  In  1852.  the  Jeffersonville  Historical 
Society,  headed  by  the  scholarly  Dr.  Fielding  Peery,  was  in  exist- 
ence, but  its  valuable  records  have  been  lost.  From  the  papers  of 
the  Society.  Dr.  Bickley  gained  much  of  his  information,  and  he 
thus  further  describes  our  mountains : 

"The  principal  mountains  of  Tazewell  are  Clinch,  Rich,  East 
River,  Brushy,  Garden,  Paint  Lick.  Deskins,  and  Flat  Top.  They 
have  an  elevation,  above  the  valleys,  of  about  eight  hundred  feet, 
and  about  three  thousand  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  For  remarks 
upon  their  geological  formation  I  would  refer  the  reader  to  the 
Transactions  of  the  Jeffersonville  Historical  Society.  The  general 
course  of  these  mountains  is  N.  67°  E. 

"Clinch  mountain,  which  receives  its  name  from  Clinch  river, 
extends  through  the  entire  length  of  the  county.  It  has  several 
gaps,  through  which  wagon-roads  pass. 

"Rich  mountain,  so  called  from  the  character  of  its  soil,  is  a 
branch  or  spur  of  Clinch  mountain,  running  parallel  to  it,  its  entire 
length . 

"East  River  mountain,  so  called  from  a  stream  of  that  name 
flowing  along  near  its  base,  begins  a  few  miles  east  of  Jeffersonville, 
and  runs  parallel  to  the  Rich  mountain  to  the  county  line  on  the 
east. 

"Brushy  mountain,  receiving  its  name  from  the  brushy  character 
of  its  growth  on  the  south  side,  runs  in  the  same  direction  as  the 
Clinch,  and  forms  the  southern  boundary  line  of  the  county. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  489 

"Paint  Lick  mountain  is  a  continuation  of  the  House  and  Barn 
mountain  in  Russell  county,  and  is  separated  from  it  by  the  Maiden 
Spring  fork,  of  Clinch  river.  There  was  once  a  great  elk  and  deer 
lick,  near  its  western  end,  and  there  are  many  paintings  (still 
visible),  supposed  to  have  been  executed  by  the  Shawnee  Indians,  or 
perhaps,  by  the  Cherokees.  The  paintings  represent  birds,  women, 
Indian  warriors,  etc.  P'rom  these  paintings,  the  lick  was  named, 
which  was  soon  applied  to  the  mountain.  It  rises  near  the  western 
county  line  and  runs  in  the  general  direction  to  near  Jeffersonville: 
it  here  sinks,  to  admit  the  passage  of  another  fork  of  Clinch  river, 
and  again  rises,  forming  l^'jlkhorn  mountain. 

"Deskin's  mountain,  so  called  from  an  early  settler,  runs  par- 
allel, and  near  the  Paint  Lick,  for  about  the  same  distance. 

"The  Great  Flat  Top,  rises  from  a  spur  of  the  Cumberland 
mountains  which  traverses  the  county.  It  is  in  the  north-east  corner 
of  the  county,  and  on  it,  corner  Tazewell,  Mercer,  and  Wyoming 
counties.     It  receives  its  name  from  a  large  level  area  on  its  summit. 

NAMES   OF  RIVERS. 

How  the  rivers  and  other  streams  in  Tazewell  acquired  the 
names  they  now  bear  is  an  interesting  matter  of  history.  Bickley, 
in  accounting  for  the  name  given  Clinch  River  makes  use  of  the 
absurd  stories  told  in  liis  day.     He  says: 

"Clinch  river  heads  in  this  county  and  receives  its  name  from 
an  incident  which  occurred  on  it  in  1767.  A  hunter  named  Castle, 
left  Augusta  and  went  to  what  is  now  Russell  county,  to  hunt  with 
a  party  of  friendly  Indians,  who  were  living  on  it.  This  tribe 
made  frequent  visits  to  the  settlement,  carrying  off  horses,  and 
such  other  stock  as  they  could  get  hold  of.  A  man  named  Harman, 
who  was  robbed  of  some  things,  and  believing  Castle  to  be  the 
instigator  to  these  acts,  ajjplied  to  a  Mr.  Buchanan,  a  justice  of 
Augusta,  for  a  writ  to  arrest  Castle  and  bring  him  to  trial.  The  writ 
was  issued,  and  a  party  raised  to  arrest  him,  among  whom  was  a 
lame  man  named  Clinch.  The  party  went  to  Castle's  camp  and 
attempted  to  arrest  him,  but  the  Indians  joined  Castle,  and  Har- 
man's  party  were  forced  to  retreat  across  the  river. 

"In  the  hurry  of  the  moment.  Clinch  got  behind,  and  while  ford- 
ing the  river  was  shot  by  an  Indian,  who  rushed  forward  to  secure 


490  History  of  Tazewell  County 

his  scalp,  but  was  shot  by  one  of  Harman's  party.  The  vulgar 
tradition  is,  that  an  Indian  was  pursuing  a  white  man,  who  clinched 
and  drowned  the  Indian  in  the  stream.  I  had  the  former  statement, 
however,  from  a  grandson  of  the  magistrate  who  issued  the  warrant 
for  Castle's  apprehension." 

Both  of  these  stories  are  without  fovmdation.  The  river  was 
known  as  the  Clinch  to  explorers  and  surveyors  seventeen  years 
prior  to  1767,  the  date  of  the  Castle  incident,  as  related  by  Bickley. 
When  Dr.  Thomas  Walker,  made  his  famous  expedition  to  Cumber- 
land Gap  and  Kentucky,  he  noted  in  his  journal  on  the  9tli  of  April, 
1750:  "We  traveled  to  a  river  which  I  suppose  to  be  that  which 
the  hunters  call  Clinche's  River,  for  one  Clinch,  a  Hunter  who  first 
found  it."  Dr.  Walker  and  his  party  had  that  day  reached  the 
Clinch  at  some  point  in  the  present  Hancock  County,  Tennessee. 
They  found  the  stream  too  deep  to  carry  their  baggage  across  with 
safety  on  their  pack-horses  and  made  a  raft  to  get  it  to  the  north 
side  of  the  river. 

Colonel  John  Buchanan,  deputy  surveyor  for  Augusta  County, 
on  the  14th  of  October,  1750,  surveyed  for  one  John  Shelton  the 
"Crabapple  Orchard"  tract  of  650  acres,  and,  in  his  official  capacity, 
recorded  in  the  surveyor's  book  of  Augusta  the  tract  as  situated  on 
the  waters  of  Clinch  River.  This  is  the  same  tract  of  land  upon 
which  Thomas  Witten  settled  in  1767.  And  on  the  16th  of  October, 
1750,  Colonel  Buchanan  surveyed  for  John  Shelton  another  tract 
of  1,000  acres  located  on  a  "Branch  of  Clinch  River."  It  is  more 
than  probable  the  second  tract  was  situated  on  Plum  Creek. 

The  hunters  had  given  the  name  to  the  river,  "from  one  Clinch 
a  Hunter,"  a  sufficient  lengih  of  time  before  Dr.  Walker  made  his 
expedition  to  enable  him  to  recognize  it  as  the  Clinch  as  soon  as  he 
came  upon  it  in  Tennessee.  So  it  was  with  Colonel  Buchanan  when 
he  was  in  Tazewell  in  1750  surveying  tracts  of  land  that  had  been 
sold  by  the  Loyal  Company.  He  and  his  surveying  party  then 
knew  the  stream  as  Clinch  River.  These  two  facts,  that  are  of 
record,  not  only  controvert  tlie  mythical  stories  related  from  tradi- 
tion to  Dr.  Bickley,  but  show  clearly  that  Tazewell's  first  historian 
was  in  error  when  he  stated  that  it  was  in  1766  that  the  first  hunt- 
ing party  came  to  Tazewell  County.  It  is  evident  that  hunting 
parties  came  here  some  years  prior  to  1750;  and  the  first  party,  it 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


491 


is  I'easonable  to  suppose,  was  lead  by  a  man  named  Clinch,  whose 
companions  named  the  river  in  honor  of  their  leader  or  most  popular 
companion. 

With  tliese  facts  in  possession.  I  undertook,  by  searching  the 
old  records  in  the  State  Land  Office  at  Richmond,  to  discover  if 
any  man  named  Clinch  was  living  in  Virginia  about  the  time  Dr. 
Walker  made  his  expedition  through  Southwest  Virginia  to  Ken- 
tucky. I  found  record  of  only  one  man  of  that  name,  William 
Clinch.     In   Patent  Book  No.   29,  I   found  a  patent  recorded,  for 


Residence  of  the  late  Col.  Wilk  Witten,  son  of  James  Witten, 
the  scout.  It  was  built  in  1838,  just  in  front  of  where  James  Witten's 
log  cabin  stood;  is  a  brick  sti-ucture,  and  of  a  style  of  architecture 
popular  in  that  day. 

5,300  acres  of  land  in  Limenburg  County,  which  had  been  issued  on 
November  3rd,  1750,  to  Wm.  Clinch.  It  is  known,  from  tradition, 
and  also  from  existing  records,  that,  previous  to  and  after  1750, 
hunting  parties  came  fi-om  Southside  Virginia  and  also  from  Tide- 
water to  hunt  in  the  Clinch  and  Holston  valleys.  They  were  called 
"Long  Hunters",  because  they  came  prepared  to  stay  for  several 
months  each  trij);  and  they  hunted  for  profit,  not  for  sport,  nor 
to  procure  meat  as  did  the  Indians.  Sometimes  they  would  kill 
more  than  a  thousand  splendid  animals  on  a  single  hunting  trip — 
buffalo,  elk,  bear,  deer,  and  other  kinds  that  were  valuable  for  their 
hides.  They  would  take  great  numbers  of  their  hides  on  pack- 
horses  to  Tidewater,  where  the}'  brought   fine  prices  for  shipment 


492 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


to  England  and  other  European  countries.  It  is  very  probable  that 
William  Clinch  came  from  Southside  Virginia  with  the  first  party 
of  Long  Hunters  that  visited  the  Clinch  Valley;  and  that  the  river 
and  the  mountain  that  bear  tlie  name  Clinch  received  it  from  him. 
The  Indian  name  for  the  river  was  Pcllissippi. 

The  Big  Sandy  gets  its  name  from  the  many  sand  bars  that  were 
found  in  the  bed  of  tJie  stream.  Different  tribes  of  Indians  called 
it  Tatteroi,  Chatteroi^  and  Chatterawha.  Tlie  Miamis  called  it 
We-pe-po-ne-ce-pt-we.  The  Delawares  called  it  Si-ke-a-ce-pe,  Salt 
River.  And  Little  Sandy  was  called  Tan-ga-te  Si-ke-a-ce-pe-we,  or 
Little  Salt  River.     Tiiree  of  the  branches  of  Big  Sandy  River  had 


The  first  residence  of  Samuel  Cecil,  built  in  1814.  It  stands 
north  of  and  overlooking  Clinch  River,  opposite  the  mouth  of  Plum 
Creek,  and  is  three  miles  west  of  the  county  seat.  It  was  originally 
a  two-story  double  log  house,  and  was  later  weatherboarded.  The 
floors  are  made  of  yellow  locust  lumber  and  are  as  hard  as  polished 
metal.  The  author's  mother,  daughter  and  eldest  child  of  Samuel  Cecil, 
was  bora  in  1815  and  was  reared,  and  married  to  my  father,  in  this 
house.  It  is  now  owned  by  Mrs.  O.  E.  Hopkins,  a  great-granddaughter 
of  Samuel  Cecil,  and  is  used  as  a  tenant  house. 

their  source  in  Tazewell  when  the  county  was  first  formed.  These 
were  the  Louisa,  Dry  Fork,  and  Tug  Fork.  Since  1858,  when 
Buchanan  and  McDowell  were  taken  from  Tazewell,  only  one  of 
the  branches,  Dry  Fork,  has  its  head  in  the  count3\  Bickley  said 
in  1852:  "La  Visee  (Louisa)  has  many  branches  in  Tazewell,  and 
is  navigable  for  flat-boats,  to  the  county  line.  The  first  white  man 
who  ascended  it  was  a  Frenchman,  who  found  a  well-executed 
design  or  painting  upon  a  peeled  poplar;  hence  its  name — "la"  trans- 
lated, meaning  the,  and  "visee,"  meaning  a  design,  aim.  or  repre- 
sentation. It  is  sometimes  called  Louisa  fork,  from  Louisa  C.  H., 
Kentucky,  near  its  junction  with  the  Tug  River." 


and  Southwest  Virginia  493 

This  rivei*  should  be  called  Louisa.  Dr.  Thomas  Walker  dis- 
covered and  named  it  "Louisa  River/'  on  June  7th,  1750,  when  he 
was  returning  from  his  expedition  to  Kentucky.  Captain  Dan 
Smith  was  deputy  surveyor  of  Fincastle  County,  and  made  numer^ 
ous  surveys  for  Dr.  Walker,  who  was  the  agent  of  the  Loyal  Com- 
pany. Captain  Smith  made  a  map  in  1774  on  which  he  laid  down 
the  headwaters  of  the  Holston,  Clinch  and  Sandy  rivers.  On  this 
map  he  placed  the  headwaters  "of  a  River  Commonly  called  Louisa." 
As  he  was  then  actively  engaged  surveying  tracts  of  land  for  the 
Loyal  Company  in  the  present  Russell  and  Tazewell  counties,  it 
is  evident  he  was  told  by  Dr.  Walker  tlie  name  of  the  river, 
"Louisa."     Smith's  map  shows  that  it  is  a  branch  of  Sandy  River. 

East  River  was  given  its  name  by  the  white  settlers,  because 
it  flows  in  an  easterly  direction.  The  Miamis  called  it  Nat-weo- 
ce-pe-we,  and  the  Delawares  named  it  Ta-le-mo-te-no-ce-pe. 

Bluestone  River,  among  tlie  rivers  of  Tazewell,  is  second  only 
to  the  Clinch  in  historical  interest.  This  river  was  so  named  by  the 
white  settlers  from  the  deep  blue  limestone  over  which  it  flows, 
which  tends  to  give  a  clear  blue  color  to  the  water  in  the  stream.  It 
also  flows  in  an  easterly  direction  and  empties  into  New  River  in 
the  present  Summers  County,  West  Virginia.  The  Miami  Indians 
called  it  Mee-ce-ne-ke-ke-ce-pe-we ;  and  the  Delawares  named  it 
Mo-mon-ga-sen-eka-ce-pe,  or  Big  Stone  Creek. 

Wolf  Creek  rises  in  Burke's  Garden,  passes  through  the  gap, 
which  is  the  only  outlet  for  water  from  the  Garden,  flows  down 
through  the  rugged  breaks  between  Rich  and  Garden  mountains, 
enters  Bland  County  and  runs  on  to  and  through  Rocky  Gap,  thence 
to  New  River,  entering  that  stream  at  the  Narrows  in  Giles  County. 
The  early  settlers  found  so  many  wolves  along  and  about  the 
stream,  from  its  source  to  its  confluence  with  New  River,  that  they 
naturally  gave  it  the  name  of  Wolf  Creek. 

There  are  a  hundred  or  more  creeks  and  branches  in  the  present 
bounds  of  Tazewell  County  that  have  received  their  names  from 
their  peculiar  location,  or  some  traditional  incident.  Owing  to  their 
large  number,  only  the  most  noted  ones  can  be  mentioned  in  this 
volume. 

Laurel  Fork,  a  branch  of  the  North  Fork  of  Holston  River, 
has  its  source  at  the  head  of  Poor  Valley,  about  ten  miles  southeast 
of  the  town  of  Tazewell.     It  is  a  beautiful  freestone  stream  and 


494 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


runs  a  westerly  course  down  the  valley  some  fifteen  miles  to  the 
Smyth  County  line^  where  it  turns  south,  and,  after  passing  through 
Laurel  Gap,  empties  into  the  North  Fork  of  Holston  about  half  a 
mile  from  the  gap. 

Great  Indian  Creek,  in  what  is  called  the  Sinking  Waters,  has 
its  head  about  fifteen  miles  west  of  the  county  seat.  Its  course 
is  southerly  to  the  Clinch,  entering  that  river  at  a  point  about  six- 
teen miles  west  of  Tazewell,  where  the  hamlet  known  as  "Indian" 


This  old  mill  is  still  .-tamiino-  in  Plum  Creek  Gap,  about  half  a  mile 
below  the  point  where  the  big  spnng  that  is  the  source  of  the  creek 
gushes  from  the  mountain  side. 

formerly  stood,  but  where  the  present  thrifty  town  of  Cedar  Bluff 
is  now  located.  A  man  named  Ray  and  his  entire  family  were 
massacred  by  the  Indians  on  the  creek  in  1788,  or  1789;  and  from 
this  incident  the  stream  got  its  name.  One  of  the  springs  at  its 
head  petrifies  vegetable  matter,  such  as  nuts,  twigs  from  trees,  etc. 
I  have  been  shown  specimens  of  these  petrifactions. 

Clear  Fork,  a  branch  of  Wolf  Creek,  heads  six  miles  east  of 
Tazewell.  It  flows  easterly  through  the  narrow,  but  beautiful  Clear 
Fork  Valley  for  a  distance  of  about  twenty  miles,  and  joins  Wolf 
Creek  at  Rocky  Gap. 

Plum  Creek  is  one  of  the  most  historic  streams  in  the  county. 


and  Southwest^Virginia  495 

and  received  its  name  from  tlie  large  number  of  wild  plum  trees  the 
first  settlers  found  growing  about  its  borders.  Its  principle  source 
is  in  the  gap  of  Rich  Mountain,  known  as  Plum  Creek  Gap,  about 
three  miles  southwest  of  the  court  house. 

In  1852  the  creek  that  rises  in  Ward's,  or  Barns'  Cove,  was 
known  as  Cove  Creek.  Now  another  stream  bears  that  name. 
This  Cove  Creek  has  its  source  in  Nye's  Cove  on  the  south  side  of 
East  River  Mountain,  about  twelve  miles  northeast  of  Tazewell. 
It  passes  through  a  gap  in  Euckhorn  Mountain,  and  empties  into 
Clear  Fork  at  the  old  Peter  Dills  place.  On  the  1st  of  October, 
1789,  a  party  of  Indians  entered  the  home  of  Thomas  Wiley,  who 
lived  half  a  mile  above  the  mouth  of  Cove  Creek,  and  made  cap- 
tives of  Mrs.  Virginia  Wiley  and  her  four  children.  As  they  were 
going  up  Cove  Creek  the  Indians  killed  the  four  children,  but  took 
Mrs.  Wiley  to  their  towns  in  Ohio.  She  afterwards  made  her  escape 
in  company  with  a  man  named  Samuel  Lusk. 

Laurel  Creek  is  now  one  of  the  most  noted  streams  in  Tazewell 
County.  It  passes  directly  through  the  town  of  Pocahontas ;  and 
near  its  banks  the  first  coal  was  mined  for  shipment  from  the  Poca- 
hontas coal  fields.  Dr.  Thomas  Walker,  when  returning  from  his 
expedition  to  Kentucky  in  1750,  camped  on  Laurel  Creek,  and  made 
a  note  in  his  journal  of  the  coal  he  found  there. 

Big  Creek  also  has  come  prominently  into  notice  in  recent  years. 
This  creek  rises  in  the  southern  slopes  of  Sandy  Ridge  about  twenty 
miles  west  of  the  county  seat  and  near  the  dividing  line  between 
Buchanan  and  Tazewell  counties.  It  flows  in  a  southerly  direction 
and  joins  the  Clinch  at  Richlands.  There  are  several  large  coal 
operations  on  its  upper  waters,  from  which  many  thousands  of  tons 
of  coal  are  being  mined  and  shipped  annually. 


496  History  of  Tazewell  County 

CHAPTER  III. 

INTERESTING  SECTIONS  OF   COUNTY THE   HEAD  OF   CLINCH   VALLEY. 

That  section  of  a  county  wliere  the  seat  of  justice  is  located 
is  generally  the  most  important;,  because  of  the  location  of  the  county 
government  at  that  particular  point.  The  valley  in  which  the  county 
seat  of  Tazewell  is  placed  has  added  imjDortance  on  account  of  its 
unexcelled  phj'sical  beauty  and  unsurpassed  fertility  of  soil.  This 
valley  has  a  length  of  seven  miles  and  extends  from  the  west  end 
of  East  River  and  Buckhorn  mountains  to  the  east  end  of  Paint 
Lick  and  Deskins  mountains.  It  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  Rich 
Mountain  and  on  the  north  by  Kent's  Ridge;  and.  with  the  northern 
slopes  of  the  mountain  and  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Ridge, 
included,  lias  an  average  width  of  about  four  miles.  Within  these 
bounds  tliere  are  about  18.000  acres  of  as  good  land  as  can  be  found 
anywhere  on  the  North  American  Continent.  The  main  fork  of 
Clinch  River  meanders  through  it.  Plum  Creek  heads  in  a  gap 
of  Rich  Mountain,  about  three  miles  south  of  the  town  of  Tazewell 
and  flows  a  northerly  course  across  the  valley,  joining  tlie  Clinch 
about  a  half  a  mile  above  the  place  where  the  first  settler,  Thomas 
Witten,  built  his  cabin.  Cavitt's  Creek  finds  its  source  in  the 
southern  slopes  of  Stony  Ridge,  runs  through  a  gap  in  Kent's 
Ridge,  and  unites  with  the  Clinch,  a  mile  above  the  mouth  of  Plum 
Creek.  Scores  of  limpid  branches  flow  down  from  the  mountains, 
ridges  and  hills  and  find  their  way  into  the  river,  or  into  one  or 
the  other  of  the  two  above  named  creeks.  Thousands  of  crystal 
springs  burst  forth  from  the  mountains,  ridges  and  hills  and  even 
in  the  lowlands,  and  are  the  sources  of  the  numerous  branches  that 
create  the  creeks  and  the  historic  Clinch  River.  It  is  impossible  to 
find  anywhere  on  the  earth  the  same  quantity  and  quality  of  land 
that  is  more  abundantly  supplied  witli  pure,  flowing  water. 

It  was  in  this  immediate  section  of  Tazewell  that  the  first  set- 
tlers— the  Wittens,  the  Harmans.  the  Peerys,  the  Wynnes,  the 
Cecils,  and  others — located  with  their  families.  Two  of  tlie  first 
three  forts  built  by  the  pioneers  of  the  Clinch  Valley,  were  erected 
in  this  area — Thomas  Witten's.  at  the  "Crabapple  Orchard,"  and 
William  Wvnne's.  at  "Locust  Hill." 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


497 


The  scenic  grandeur  of  this  particular  valley  and  the  mountains 
that  encompass  it,  is  beyond  description.  Its  most  conspicuous  and 
gigantic  feature  is  Dial  Rock.  This  rock  is  the  face  of  one  of  the 
three  heads  of  East  River  Mountain  that  stand  at  the  eastern 
extremity  of  the  valley.  It  is  composed  of  several  cliffs,  which, 
viewed  from  a  distance,  present  the  appearance  of  a  single  rock.  How 
it  received  its  name  is  not  known.  There  is  an  old  story,  handed 
down  by  tradition,  that  in  the  pioneer  days  a  natural  sun-dial,  wliich 
correctly  measured  the  time  of  day,  was  found  upon  the  rock.     It 


This  exquisitely  beautiful '§cene  sho\ys  the  Exhibition  Grounds  of 
the  Tazewell  Fair  Association  with  the  Fair  in  full  swing.  In  the 
background  can  be  seen  the  two  principal  faces  of  East  River  Moun- 
tain.   The  tall  peak  at  the  right  is  crowTied  and  faced  with  Dial  Rock. 

is  more   reasonable   to  believe  that  it  got  its  name   from  the  man 

named  Dial,  who  was  living  in  that  vicinity,  and  was  killed  by  the 

Indians  on  the  11th  of  April,  1786. 

The  summit  of  the   rocks   is   about   fifteen  hundred   feet  above 

the  valley  and  the  Clinch  River,  which  stream  flows  not  very  far 

from  the  base  of  the  mountain.     Dr.  Bickley,  who  scaled  the  cliffs 

in  1852,  made  an  estimate  of  their  elevation,  and  he  says:     "Tliese 

cliff's  are  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet 

above    the    common    level    of   the    mountain ;    and    seem    as    if    some 

internal  commotion  had  started  them  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 

to  awe  and  affright  the  eye  that  should  dare  look  from  their  tops." 

The  view  from  the  pinacle  of  Dial  Rock  is  very  extensive  and 
T.H. — 32 


498 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


ravishingly  beautiful.  Bickley^  who  stood  upon  the  "sixth  rock" 
sixty-seven  years  ago,  thus  describes  the  view  one  has  from  the 
height : 

"Mountains  rise  above  mountains,  in  endless  succession,  till  far 
in  the  smoky  distance  his  vision  ceases  to  distinguish  the  faint  out- 
line of  the  Cumberland  and  the  Tennessee  mountains.  Looking 
to  the  north  he  sees  the  great  Flat  Top,  from  which  others  gradually 
fade  into  indistinctness,  and  in  imagination  seems  to   say,  There, 


View  of  a  portion  of  the  town  of  Tazewell.  WjTine's  Peak  is  seen 
in  the  background.  The  location  of  the  town  is  physically  of  such 
a  character  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  get  a  complete  view  of  the 
place  in  one  picture. 

there  is  the  valley  of  the  beautiful  Ohio — the  garden  of  commerce 
and  industry.  To  the  west,  rises  Morris'  Knob,  the  highest  point  of 
Rich  mountain,  its  summit  kissing  the  very  clouds,  and  seeming  to 
bid  defiance  to  the  storms  of  heaven.  To  the  right,  rise  Paint 
Lick  and  Deskins  mountains,  and  nearly  behind  them,  the  rocky 
peaks  of  House  and  Barn  mountains,  in  Russell  county.  Far  in 
the  distance,  are  seen  ranges  of  Clinch  mountain  and  its  various 
spurs.  To  the  left,  is  seen  Wolf  Creek  Knob,  a  continuation  of 
Rich  mountain.  Close  at  hand,  the  rocky  sides  and  top  of  Elkhorn 
(Buckhorn),  and  far  in  the  distance,  ridges  of  the  Alleghany  range. 
From  this  beautiful  scene  the  eye  is  directed  down  to  the  valley 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


499 


when  a  disposition  to  shrink  back  is  felt.  *  *  *  The  scene, 
in  the  distance,  is  beautiful  beyond  description.  The  scene  around 
him  is  sublime  beyond  conception.  It  is  beyond  the  power  of  the 
wildest  imagination  to  picture  half  its  grandeur." 

Dr.  Bickley  failed  to  mention  "The  Peak,"  which  towers  above 
the  town  of  Tazewell.  This  peak  was  known  in  the  early  days  of 
the  county  as  Wynne's  Peak,  receiving  its  name  from  William 
Wynne,  the  pioneer;  and  the  name  should  be  restored.     The  sum- 


View  of  another  section  of  the  town  of  Tazewell, 
is  visible  at  the  eastern  background  of  the  picture. 


Rich  Mountain 


mit  is  4,250  feet  above  sea  level  and  has  an  elevation  of  1,716  feet 
above  the  town  which  is  nestled  at  the  base  of  Rich  Mountain.  From 
its  lofty  pinacle  the  view  is  equally  as  far-reaching  and  entrancing 
as  that  one  gets  from  Dial  Rock.  Persons  who  have  climbed  the 
peak  at  the  end  of  Paint  Lick  Mountain,  say  that  the  view  of  the 
valley  from  that  point  is  more  exquisitely  beautiful  than  it  is  from 
eitiier  Dial  Rock  or  Wynne's  Peak. 

The  Clinch  Valley  Branch  of  the  Norfolk  &  Western  Railway 
runs  east  and  west  through  the  valley  its  entire  length.  Two 
splendid  modern  macadam  roads  pass  through  it  from  east  to  west — 


500  History  of  Tazewell  County 

one  hugging  the  foot  hills  of  Rich  Mountain,  and  passing  through 
the  county  seat — and  the  other  running  along  Clinch  River,  and 
passing  through  North  Tazewell.  There  are  two  incorporated 
towns — Tazewell  and  North  Tazewell — in  the  valley. 

When  the  pioneers  came  to  this  valley  it  was  the  habitat  of 
a  large  variety  of  wild  animals.  It  was  the  home  of  the  buffalo, 
elk,  black  bear.  Virginia  or  white-tailed  deer,  panther,  wolf,  otter, 
beaver,  red  and  gray  fox,  and  many  other  kinds  of  small  animals. 
Of  the  larger  animals  none  but  the  bear  and  an  occasional  deer  are 
now  ever  found  in  the  limits  of  the  county. 

There  had  existed  in  this  same  valley,  many  thousands  of  years 
before  the  coming  of  the  pioneers,  another  variety  of  animals. 
The  mastodon,  nearly  allied  to  the  elephant  of  the  present  age, 
once  lived  in  this  valley  and  fed  upon  the  abundant  herbage  that 
then  grew  here.  This  was  during  what  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  the  emi- 
nent geologist,  named  the  post-pliocene  period;  but  he  and  other 
geologists  have  failed  to  reckon  how  many  thousands  of  years 
have  passed  since  that  period  ended.  Fragmentary  fossil  remains 
of  the  mastodon  have  been  found  at  several  points  in  this  valley. 
Some  years  ago  when  a  ditch  was  being  dug  near  the  present  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  J.  P.  Kroll,  in  the  town  of  Tazewell,  several  fossil 
teeth  of  a  mastodon  were  unearthed.  In  1893  the  late  Andrew 
M.  Peery,  when  having  a  ditch  dug  in  the  meadow  near  the  sulphur 
spring  on  his  father's,  the  late  Captain  Wm.  E.  Peery's,  place, 
came  upon  the  fragmentary  fossil  remains  of  a  four-tusked  mastodon 
(tricophodon  Miocene).  He  secured  and  carefully  preserved  con- 
siderable parts  of  an  upper  and  of  a  lower  tusk,  and  also  several 
of  the  large  teeth  of  the  huge  beast.  They  are  still  kept  in  the' 
cabinet  of  the  late  Captain  Wm.  E.  Peery. 

Similiar  remains  have  been  found  in  the  recently  discovered 
asphalt  pits  at  Los  Angeles,  California.  The  most  notable  con- 
tempary  mammals  of  the  four-tusked  elephant  or  mastodon  were: 
the  saber-toothed  tigers,  lions,  giant  wolves,  immense  cave  bears, 
large  wild  horses,  camels,  mammoths  with  tusks  15  feet  long,  and 
giant  ground  sloths.  These  and  many  other  species,  large  and  small, 
in  great  numbers,  once  lived  on  the  plains  of  Southern  California. 
It  is  more  than  possible  that  the  same  animals  were  abundant  here 
at  the  same  period. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  501 

burke's  garden. 

That  splendid  section  of  Tazewell  called  Burke's  Garden,  though 
lying  outside  the  great  Clinch  Valley,  is  considered  by  many  persons 
the  finest  section  of  the  county.  It  is  also  a  region  of  much  historic 
importance.  In  preceding  chapters  it  has  been  told  how  the  beau- 
tiful basin  got  its  name  from  James  Burke,  the  pioneer  hunter;  and 
elsewhere  in  this  volume  I  have  related  many  interesting  incidents 
connected  with  its  discovery  and  settlement.  Several  years  ago 
Mr.  E.  L.  Greever,  who  is  now  one  of  the  most  prominent  law}'ers 
of  Tazewell's  able  bar,  wrote  an  excellent  sketch  of  Burke's  Garden, 
which,  for  some  reason,  was  never  published,  though  very  merito- 
rious and  complete.  Mr.  Greever  was  born  and  reared  in  the  Garden, 
and  his  ancestors  were  among  its  earliest  settlers.  His  knowledge 
of  the  Garden  is  so  ample  and  accurate  that  I  have  concluded  to 
adopt  his  description  of  its  physical  beauties  and  outlines.  It  is 
as  follows: 

"Burke's  Garden  is  not  a  valley  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the 
term.  It  is  rather  a  basin.  Clinch  Mountain  is  an  unbroken  range 
for  many  miles  between  Thompson  Valley  and  Poor  Valley.  Towards 
the  east  it  rises  in  altitude  until  it  suddenly  stops  in  the  jumble  of 
mountains  called  Bear  Town.  Here,  is  one  of  the  highest  points  in 
Virginia,  nearly  4,800  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  From  this 
highest  point,  the  mountain  extends  away  in  a  grand  sweep  to  the 
north  and  east,  and  away  in  another  grand  sweep  to  the  south  and 
east,  until  the  two  branches  are  again  united,  many  miles  away, 
in  Round  Mountain.  Burke's  Garden  is  thus  a  basin,  a  cup  whose 
rim  is  an  unbroken  range  of  mountains.  From  northeast  to  south- 
east it  is  ten  miles  long,  and  from  southeast  to  northwest  it  is  five 
miles  wide.  Only  one  natural  opening  in  this  massive  fence  exists, 
and  through  it  all  the  water  passes  out  to  the  sea.  This  opening  is 
an  abrupt,  deep  notch,  cut  straight  through  the  mountain.  The 
pass  is  strewn  with  great  boulders,  the  wreckage  left  by  the  long 
contest  of  water  and  stone.  Men  have  made  other  roads  into  the 
valley,  but  this  is  the  one  mighty  gateway  constructed  by  nature. 

"Many  theories  as  to  the  formation  of  Burke's  Garden  have  been 
advanced.  By  many  it  is  believed  that  in  the  general  upheaval  of 
the  country,  this  place  was  left  much  as  it  is  now,  that  the  basin 
was  soon  filled  with  water,  and  that  the  water  finally  broken  through 


502 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


the  barrier  that  held  it,  leaving  the  fertile  bed  of  the  lake  to  become, 
in  time,  a  beautiful  valley. 

"Others  maintain  that  the  upheaval  broke  up  the  hard  sand- 
stone over  a  large  area,  but  left  it  intact  on  the  mountain  sides, 
and  that  erosion  has  made  Burke's  Garden. 

"It  has  been  suggested  that  the  rim  of  mountains  now  marks 
the  outline  of  the  base  of  what  was  once  an  immense  peak,  and 
that   the   top   of   the   peak   being   soft   was   gradually   worn   away. 


The  Gap  which  is  the  only  natural  outlet  from  Burke's  Gai-den. 
When  the  photo  was  made  of  this  scene  the  ground  was  covered  with 
a  deep  snow.  The  stream  shown  is  Wolf  Creek,  and  has  its  source 
in  the  Garden.  It  was  once  a  fine  trout  stream,  and  the  author  caught 
his  first  "speckled  beauty,"  in  this  creek,  about  a  fourth  of  a  mile 
below  the  mill,  in  March,  1863. 

After  awhile  the  hard  sandstone  was  reached  and  wearing  away 
process  on  the  outside  was  stopped.  The  upheavel  of  the  peak 
having  broken  up  the  strata,  the  process  of  disintegration  went  on 
over  the  space  where  the  strata  were  so  broken.  Thus  the  hard  rim 
was  left  while  the  softer  rocks  of  the  interior  of  the  peak,  the  lime- 
stones, gradually  wore  away  until  the  present  state  of  things 
resulted.  In  support  of  this  last  theory,  attention  is  called  by  its 
advocates  to  the  remarkable  fact  that  the  dip  of  the  strata  all  the 
way  around  this  mountain   rim  is  toward  the  outside,  very  much 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


503 


as   if  the   giant   force   had   pushed   up   the   horizontal   strata   until 
they  sloped  away  alike  in  all  directions. 

*     *     *     * 

"Its  altitude,  nearly  thirtj--two  hundred  feet  above  sea  level, 
makes  the  climate  cooler  ordinarily  than  the  surrounding  country, 
and  the  seasons  in  the  valley  later.  The  days  are  seldom  uncom- 
fortably warm  in  summer  and  the  nights  are  never  oppressive. 
*  *  *  When  the  first  settlers  reached  the  place  they  found  the 
climate  extremelv  cold.     Corn  and  wheat  would  not  mature.     Wheat 


'■=<^i[^l|S^RI^|^^ 

1 

W^itM' 

fe'- 

H 

Rev.  John  J.  Greever  was  bom  in  Burke's  Garden  in  1811  and 
died  in  June,  1877.  He  was  a  minister  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church,  was  an  able  theologian  and  a  splendid  pulpit  orator.  He  was 
a  grandson  of  Philip  Greever,  the  man  who  fired  the  first  shot  at  the 
battle  of  King's  Mountain. 

bread  was  a  luxury  enjoyed  only  on  Sundays  and  the  flour  was  pur- 
chased on  Wolf  Creek.  Frosts  came  late  in  the  spring  and  early  in 
the  fall.  Fruits,  such  as  apj^les,  peaches,  &c.,  were  unknown.  Rye 
did  remarkably  well.     The  potato  found  here,  its  ideal  home. 


"The  Indians  called  Burke's  Garden  'The  Great  Swamp.'  The 
name,  as  were  most  Indians  names,  was  descriptive  and  peculiarly 
appropriate.  The  whole  expanse  of  level  land,  now  the  very  finest 
of  bluegrass  pasture,  was  then  wet  and  almost  a  bog.  This  was 
caused  by  the  dense  undergrowth,  for  the  whole  country  is  of  lime- 


504  History  of  Tazewell  County 

stone  formation  and  is  unusually  well  drained  naturally.  One  man 
yet  living,  remembers  the  time  when  a  bridle  path  ran  through  the 
woods  from  'the  Gap'  to  the  place  where  the  road  to  Ceres  now 
crosses  the  mountain ;  and  he  says  tliat  tlie  horses  had  made  in  the 
mud  a  succession  of  stejDS  which  closely  resembled  a  stairway. 
There  existed  an  idea  among  the  first  settlers  that  this  broad  expanse 
of  level  land  was  too  wet  and  swampy  for  farming  purposes ;  in 
fact,  they  regarded  it  as  hardlj'^  worth  clearing  and  we  find  many  of 
them,  under  this  delusion,  establishing  their  homes  along  the  central 
ridge  and  clearing  far  inferior  lands." 

Mr.  Greever  gives  very  little  credence  to  some  of  the  traditions 
that  have  been  handed  down  through  several  generations  about 
Burke's  discovery  of  the  Garden,  esjDecially  the  one  which  tells  of 
the  hunter's  pursuit  of  a  monster  Elk  from  Elk  Creek,  in  Grayson 
County,  on.  across  Cripple  Creek,  in  Wythe  County,  over  three 
mountains  into  the  Garden,  and  thence  across  mountains  and  ridges 
to  Elkhorn,  in  what  is  now  West  Virginia.  However,  Mr.  Greever 
does  give  credit  to  the  story  about  Burke  and  a  companion  lumter 
following  a  verj^  large  buck  from  their  camp  in  Poor  Valley  into 
the  Garden.  And  he  is  of  the  opinion  that  Burke,  and  not  Sinclair, 
i:)iloted  Colonel  Patton  to  the  place. 

The  records  in  the  State  Land  Office  at  Richmond  reveal  that 
patents  for  two  boundaries  of  land,  containing  400  and  500  acres, 
respectively,  were  issued  on  Sept.  20th,  1748,  to  James  Burke. 
These  tracts  were  situated  on  Goose  Creek  in  Augusta  County ; 
and  it  is  more  than  probable  these  lands  were  obtained  from  Colonel 
Patton.  under  his  grant  of  120,000  acres.  Burke  had  been  inti- 
mately associated  with  Patton  in  some  capacity,  as  he  was  one  of 
tlie  first  settlers  at  the  settlement  made  by  Colonel  Patton  at 
Draper's  Meadows  in  174S. 

There  is  an  old  story  to  the  effect  that  Burke  was  to  be  given 
one  thousand  acres  of  the  level  land  in  the  Garden  as  compensation 
for  showing  Patton  the  country ;  and  that  Colonel  Patton  and  his 
associates  did  not  comply  with  their  contract.  In  other  words,  that 
Burke  was  defrauded.  It  has  also  been  a  tradition  that  Patton 
made  an  inclusive  survey  of  all  the  choice  land  in  the  basin,  and 
appropriated  it  to  himself  and  his  kindred.  There  is  no  record  in 
existence  which  shows  that  any  such  survey  was  ever  made.  In 
fact  no  surveying  was  done  in  the  Garden  until  1753,  and  this  was 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


505 


under  the  grant  for  800,000  acres  to  the  Loyal  Company.  A  sur- 
veying party  composed  of  Colonel  Patton,  Colonel  John  Buchanan, 
Wm.  Ingles,  James  Burke,  and  possibly  others,  in  that  year  sur- 
veyed two  tracts,  one  of  3i5  acres  and  another  of  200  acres,  for 
Wra.  Ingles.  At  the  same  time  a  tract  of  400  acres  was  surveyed 
for  James  Burke,  and  was,  no  doubt,  given  him  by  Colonel  Patton 
for  services  rendered.  This  was  the  boundary  on  which  Burke 
built  his  cabin  and  made  clearings.  It  was  there  that  Colonel 
Andrew  Lewis  camped  for  two  days  in  1756  with  his  little  army 
that  went  on  the  Sandy   River  expedition;   and  there  his  soldiers 


This  beautiful  landscape  shows  the  location  of  the  house  of  the 
Flovcls  when  they  lived  in  Burke's  Garden.  The  house  stood  m  the 
grove  of  sugar  tiees  at  the  left  of  the  picture.  On  the  right  is  seen 
fhe  handsome  residence  of  Mr.  R.  M.  Lawson,  who  now  owns  one 
thousand  acres  of  the  splendid  Floyd  estate,  that  consisted  originally 
of  about  three  thousand  acres.  _  , 


found  enough  potatoes  in  Burke's  patches  to  supply  them  with  food 

for  two  days. 

Though  it  is  known  that  Burke  married  a  widow  Griffith,  there 
is  nothing  I  can  find  of  record  to  show  that  he  had,  at  the  time 
he  was  sojourning  in  the  Garden,  any  children  of  his  own,  or  that  he 
ever  took  his  family  there.  His  adventurous  disposition  and  avidity 
for  hunting  caused  him,  somewhat  like  Daniel  Boone,  to  lead  a  wan- 
dering life.  He  was  driven  by  the  Indians  from  the  Garden  in 
1756,  and,  when  seeking  a  place  of  safety,  met  the  Sandy  River 
expedition  at.  or  near,  Draper's  Valley  in  the  present  Pulaski 
Countv ;  and  told  Colonel  Lewis  of  the  visit  of  the  savages  to  the 


506 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


Garden.  This  was  why  Lewis  marclied  tliere  without  delay,  hoping 
that  he  would  get  upon  the  trail  of  the  Indians  and  destroy  them 
before  they  got  back  to  Ohio.  Burke  never  returned  to  the  Garden. 
There  is  ample  evidence  in  the  records  of  the  county  clerk's  office 
of  Tazewell  to  show  that  he  disposed  of  his  400  acre  tract  to  Wm. 
Ingles  who  had  two  tracts  of  land  adjoining.  It  is  probable  he 
exchanged  it  for  the  land  he  afterwards  occupied  on  New  River 
in  the  present  Giles  County;  and  where  he  had  a  fort  in  1774,  near 
the  mouth  of  Sinking  Creek. 

When  Thomas   Ingles  moved  his  family  from  Abb's  Valley  to 


The  black  cross  is  about  the  spot  where  James  Burke  built  his 
cabin  in  1763,  and  where  Thomas  Ingles'  family  were  made  captives 
in  1782.    The  land  belongs  to  the  estate  of  the  late  Rufus  Thompson. 

Burke's  Garden  he  took  up  his  abode  in  the  house  that  James  Burke 
had  built  and  had  occupied  during  his  brief  stay  in  the  Garden. 
Ingles  enlarged  the  house,  and  made  other  improvements  in  the  way 
of  buildings  and  the  clearing  of  land.  The  records  of  the  county 
court  of  Tazewell  County  disproves  the  tradition  that  the  Indians 
burned  the  house  of  Thomas  Ingles  when  they  made  his  family  cap- 
tives in  1782.  At  the  same  time  that  Colonel  Buchanan  made  sur- 
veys for  Ingles  and  Burke  he  surveyed  large  boundaries  of  the 
choice  lands  in  the  Garden  for  Colonel  James  Patton.  As  preh 
viously  related.  Colonel  Patton  was"  killed  by  the  Indians  at  the 
Draper's   Meadows  massacre  in    1755.      He   was   survived  by  two 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


507 


daughters;,  Mary,  wife  of  William  Thompson^  and  Margaret,  wife 
of  Colonel  John  Buchanan.  By  his  will,  which  was  probated  by 
the  county  court  of  Augusta  County,  at  Staunton,  in  November, 
1755,  he  divided  his  estate  equally  between  his  two  daughters.  The 
splendid  Burke's  Garden  lands  were  allotted  to  Mrs.  Mary  Thomp- 
son, and  they  afterwards  passed  to  her  son,  Captain  James  Patton 
Thompson,  grandson  and  namesake  of  Colonel  Patton. 


Col.  Peter  Litz  was  of  the  first  generation  bom  in  Burke's  Garden. 
He  was  of  pure  German  blood,  was  a  man  of  splendid  qualities  and 
was  one  of  Tazewell's  most  highly  esteemed  citizens.  He  was  born 
April  25th,  1802,  and  died  April  3rd,  1880. 

Mrs.  Mary  Thompson,  or  her  son  James,  had,  in  some  way, 
acquired  a  right  to  the  Burke's  Garden  lands  belonging  to  the  estate 
of  Wm.  Ingles,  including  the  Burke  tract  of  four  hundred  acres. 
Captain  Thompson  moved  to  the  Garden  from  his  former  residence 
at  Town  House,  now  Chilhowie,  in  Smyth  County.  In  1806  he 
instituted  a  chancery  suit  in  the  county  court  of  Tazewell  to 
extract  from  Thomas  Ingles  his  equitable  title  in  the  land  formerly 
owned  by  his  father,  Wm.  Ingles.  The  style  of  the  suit  was  James 
Thompson  vs.  Thomas  Ingles;  and  on  the  27th  of  May,  1806,  the 
county  court  of  Tazewell  entered  a  decree  from  which  the  following 
extract  is  taken: 

"This  court  conceiving  the  holder  of  an  equitable  claim,  may 
relinquish   the    same   to   the    legal    proprietor   before    the    same   is 


508 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


adjudged  to  such  equitable  claimant  by  adjudication,  whereupon  tlie 
court  doth  order  and  decree  that,  in  case  the  heirs,  Executors  or 
other  persons  representing  William  Ingles,  Deed.,  should  by  adjudi- 
cation or  otherwise  obtain  any  lands  witliin  the  place  called  Burks 
Garden,  in  the  bill  mentioned,  that  the  Defendent  do  at  his  own 
costs  by  Deed  of  conveyance,  con\'ey  one  third  part  thereof  to  tlie 
said  Plaintiff,  with  general  warranty  against  himself  and  all  other 
persons;  and  in  case  the  Heirs,  Executors,  Administrators,  assigns, 
or  any  person  or  persons,  claiming  under  William  Ingles,  Deed, 
should  by  adjudication  or  otherwise,  obtain  four  hundred  acres  of 


Captain  George  C.  Gose  was  born  in  Burke's  Garden  on  January 
28th,  1822,  and  died  November  14th,  1889.  He  sei-ved  in  the  Confed- 
erate army  for  about  one  year  as  Captain  of  Company  C,  23rd  Bat- 
talion, Va.  Inf.  Captain  Gose  passed  all  his  life  in  Burke's  Garden, 
and  was  one  of  its  most  substantial  and  respected  citizens. 

Land  in  right  of  James  Burke  then  the  court  doth  order  and  Decree 
that  the  said  defendent  do  at  his  own  costs  convey  unto  the  Plaintiff 
one  third  part  thereof,  in  one  entire  square  so  as  to  include  the 
improvements  made  by  the  defendant  and  his  father  William  Ingles, 
and  also  fo  include  the  house  ichere  Burke,  and  afterivards  said 
defendant  resided." 

This  decree  proves  conclusively  that  James  Burke  owned  and 
occupied,  and  afterwards  abandoned  and  sold  to  William  Ingles, 
four  hundred  acres  of  the  best  land  in  the  Garden;  and  that  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  509 

house  that  Burke  built  in  1753  or  1754,  phis  improvements  made 
by  William  and  Thomas  Ingles,  was  standing  in  1806.  The  decree 
of  the  county  court  of  Tazewell  was  executed  to  such  an  extent  as 
to  vest  the  title  of  the  Burke  land  completely  in  James  Patton 
Thompson.  And  on  the  26th  day  of  April,  1813,  Captain  James 
Thompson  and  Margaret,  his  wife,  conveyed  by  deed  to  Archibald 
Thompson,  "one  certain  tract  or  parcel  of  land  in  Burke's  Garden, 
including  the  Old  Station,  containing  300  acres  more  or  less."  The 
decree  and  deed,  cited,  prove  beyond  question  that  James  Burke 
was  not  fraudulently  deprived  of  any  land  in  the  Garden,  and  that 
Thomas  Ingles'  house  was  not  destroyed  by  the  Indians  when  they 
made  his  wife  and  children  captives  in  1782. 

I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain  definitely  who  was  the  first 
permanent  settler  in  Burke's  Garden  and  when  he  settled  there. 
James  Patton  Thompson  was  certainly  one  of  the  first,  if  not  the 
first  to  take  ujd  his  residence  in  the  Garden.  Among  the  most 
prominent  settlers  from  1800  to  1820  were:  Peter  Litz,  Philip 
Gose,  Philip  Greever,  Gasper  Ritter,  John  Heninger,  George 
Spracher,  Peter  Gose,  John  Day,  George  Rhudy,  Mathias  Fox, 
William  Hall,  and  James  Meek.  Nearly  all  these  first  settlers 
have  many  descendants  still  living  in  the  Garden. 

THE   COVE. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  and  noted  sections  of  the  county  is 
the  Cove.  It  is  composed  of  two  distinct  but  contiguous  coves.  They 
are  known,  respectively,  as  Bowen's  and  Barns'  Cove;  and  take 
their  name  from  Rees  Bowen,  who  settled  there  in  1769;  and  Robert 
Bams,  who  located  there  in  178  1  or  1785.  The  two  coves  cover 
an  area  of  approximately  5  x  4l/o  miles,  and  contain  about  15,000 
acres  of  as  fine  grazing  and  agricultural  land  as  can  be  found  any 
where  on  the  continent. 

In  1852  Bickley  wrote  about  the  Cove  as  Follows:  "This  is  a 
large  area  of  nearly  level  land,  containing  about  fifteen  square  miles, 
and  situated  at  the  west  end  of  Thompson's  Valley,  between  Clinch 
and  Short  mountains,  which  was  evidently,  at  one  time  connected 
with  the  Rich  Mountain.  The  waters  seem  to  have  accumulated, 
(in  Bams'  Cove)  and  forced  a  way  through  that  spot  now  knowii 
as  Maiden  Spring.  The  land  is  very  fertile,  well  timbered  and 
watered,  and  the  surrounding  farms  in  fine  order.     Add  to  it  the 


510  History  of  Tazewell  County 

adjoining  lands  and  residences  of  Maj.  H.  S.  Bowen  and  Col.  Rees 
T.  Bowen  and  I  know  of  no  section  in  Tazewell  County,  of  the  same 
extent,  so  desirable.  The  society  is  good,  and  the  inhabitants  very 
hospitable.  I  hesitate  not  to  call  this  the  garden  spot  of  Tazewell 
County.  It  was  settled  in  1772  by  John  Craven,  who  was  followed, 
the  next  year,  by  Rees  Bowen,  David  Ward,  and  William  Garrison, 
the  latter,  however,  settled  on  its  very  edge.  The  descendants  of 
these  men  are  still  in  the  Cove.  The  Wards,  Bowens,  Gillespies, 
Barnses,  and  Youngs,  constitute  a  major  part  of  its  population.  The 
scenery  from  here  is  very  fine,  and  the  climate  warmer  than  other 
parts  of  Tazewell." 

The  Wards,  Bowens,  Barns,  and  Gillespies,  descendants  of  the 
first  settlers,  still  constitute  the  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants 
and  own  nearly  all  the  land  in  the  Cove.  George  Ward  lives  where 
his  ancestor,  David  Ward,  located  his  home.  Rees  Bowen,  the 
fifth,  resides  at  the  old  Maiden  Spring  homestead,  in  view  of  the 
spot  where  his  ancestor,  Lieutenant  Rees  Bowen,  built  his  fort  in 
the  pioneer  days.  Joseph  G.  Barns  lives  near  where  his  great- 
grandfather, Robert  Barns,  erected  his  cabin  in  1785  or  1786. 
Jeff  Gillespie  lives  on  the  spot  where  his  ancestor,  Thomas  Gillespie, 
built  his  dwelling  just  after  the  Revolution.  The  descendants  of 
the  pioneer  families  are  almost  certain  to  own  and  occupy  this 
beautiful  and  fertile  section  for  many  coming  generations,  as  the 
present  generation  are  as  much  wedded  to  the  soil  as  were  their 
pioneer  ancestors.  As  each  generation  comes  and  goes,  their  love 
for  this  beautiful  land  seems  to  grow  more  intense. 

THOMPSON   VALLEY. 

Thompson  Valley  was  one  of  the  sections  of  the  Clinch  Valley 
to  first  attract  pioneer  settlers;  and  in  this  valley  the  Indians  com- 
mitted their  first  diabolical  massacre  of  white  people  within  the 
boimds  of  the  present  Tazewell  County.  Joseph  Martin,  John 
Henry  and  James  King  settled  in  the  valley  in  1871.  On  the  8th 
of  September,  1774,  John  Henry  and  his  wife  and  three  children 
were  murdered  by  a  band  of  Indians,  led  by  Logan,  the  Mingo 
chief.  If  Martin  and  King  have  any  descendants  now  living  in  the 
county,  they  are  unknown  to  the  author.  William  ThomjDson,  with 
his  family,  settled  in  the  valley  in  1772,  and  it  received  its  name 
from  him. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  511 

The  area  of  Thompson  Valley  is  approximately  13  x  2I/2  miles, 
and  contains  about  20,000  acres  of  valuable  grazing  and  farming 
land.  It  lies  between  Clinch  and  Rich  mountains  and  runs,  from 
its  head,  a  westerly  course.  On  the  south  side  of  Rich  Mountain, 
within  this  valley,  is  found  some  of  the  very  finest  grazing  lands 
in  Tazewell  County.  This  is  the  only  instance  in  the  county,  or 
in  Southwest  Virginia,  where  a  mountain  is  equally  rich  on  both 
its  north  and  south  side,  and  this,  perhaps,  accounts  for  the  name 
given  the  mountain. 

The  Maiden  Spring  fork  of  Clinch  River,  which  Captain  Dan 
Smith,  in  surveys  he  made  in  ITTl  for  John  Henry  and  William 
Thompson,  called  the  "South  Fork  of  Clinch  River,"  has  its  source 
at  the  head  of  Thompson  Valley.  This  stream  flows  down  the 
valley  a  distance  of  about  ten  miles,  then  sinks  or  enters  a  cave, 
flows  under  Rich  Mountain,  and  gushes  out  about  a  mile  southwest 
of  Liberty  Hill  and  flows  on  down  by  Maiden  Spring. 

There  are  a  number  of  excellent  farms  in  the  valley.  The 
Thompsons  and  other  descendants  of  William  Thompson,  the 
pioneer,  constitute  a  large  share  of  the  population,  and  own  a  great 
part  of  the  most  valuable  lands  in  the  valley. 

POOR   VALLEY. 

Just  across  Clinch  Mountain,  south  of  Thompson  Valley,  and 
running  parallel  with  that  valley,  is  another  valley.  It  lies  between 
Clinch  and  Brushy  mountains,  and  was  named  by  the  early  settlers. 
Poor  Valley,  because  the  land  is  not  as  fertile  as  in  the  other  valleys 
of  Tazewell  County.  But  if  it  was  situated  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  State,  it  would  be  considered  both  fertile  and  beautiful. 
There  is  very  little,  if  any,  limestone  in  the  valley,  which  accounts 
for  its  lack  of  fertility,  as  compared  with  the  limestone  sections  of 
the  county. 

Poor  Valley  constituted  a  part  of  Washington  and  Wythe 
counties  until  twenty-six  years  after  Tazewell  was  formed.  Then, 
upon  the  petition  of  the  few  citizens  who  lived  in  the  valley,  the 
General  Assembly  by  an  act  passed  on  January  -ith,  1826,  attached 
it  to  Tazewell  County.  The  Valley  has  an  area  of  approximately 
17  x  II/2  miles,  its  length  being  greatly  out  of  proportion  to  its 
width,  and  contains  about  16,000  acres,  most  of  the  land  being 
level. 


512 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


At  the  head  of  the  valley  the  Laurel  Fork  of  the  North  Fork 
of  Holston  River  has  its  source.  This  beautiful  crystal  stream 
flows  down  the  valley  to  the  line  between  Smyth  and  Tazewell  coun- 
ties, passes  through  Laurel  Gap  of  Brushy  Mountain,  and  enters 
the  North  Fork  of  Holston  in  Smvth  Countv.     The  water  is  free- 


Major  Otis  Caldwell  was  for  many  j^ears  a  resident  of  Poor 
Valley.  He  was  bom  Dec.  12th,  1820,  and  died  Sept.  6th,  1912.  He 
held  the  rank  of  major  in  the  Confederate  anmy. 

stone  and  there  are  many  fine  springs,  some  of  them  of  considerable 
volume.  The  valley  is  well  adapted  to  fruit  culture,  and  the  inhabi- 
tants rarely  fail  to  have  an  abundant  crop  of  apples. 


BAPTIST    VALLEY. 

Bickley  says  that  Baptist  Valley  received  its  name  "from  the 
number  of  persons  belonging  to  the  Baptist  denomination  of  Chris- 
tians, who  settled  in  it."  It  covers  an  area  of  approximately  10  x 
1  miles,  contains  about  6,400  acres;  and  lies  between  Kent's  Ridge 
and  the  ridge  that  divides  the  waters  of  the  Clinch  and  the  Dry 
Fork  of  Sandy  River.     Among  the  first  settlers  in  this  valley  were: 

James  and  Charles  Skeggs,  Richard  Pemberton, Johnson, 

Thomas  Maston,  Wiliam  Patterson,  and  John  Deskins. 

The  farms,  generally,  are  of  small  acreage,  and  were  badly 
and  intensely  cultivated  until  some  twenty  years  ago,  when  the 
farmers  began  to  handle  their  land  in  a  scientific  manner.     At  tliis 


and  Southwest  Virginia  513 

time  there  is  no  part  of  the  county  where  the  lands  are  more  indus- 
triously and  skilfully  cultivated^  or  where  the  yield  per  acre  is 
more  abundant.  The  Tazewell  C.  H.  and  Kentucky  Turnpike 
passed  through  the  valley  its  entire  length;  and  a  few  years  ago 
a  part  of  the  road  was  reconstructed  and  macadamized  and  is  now 
one  of  the  best  roads  in  the  county.  It  is  one  of  the  best  fruit  grow^ 
ing  sections  of  the  county^  and  the  apple  trees  rarely  fail  to  bear 
heavily.  Tourists  who  travel  through  the  valley  are  delighted  with 
the  scenery,  the  views  from  the  road  being  very  beautiful. 

HIGHLANDS    VALLEY. 

The  Richlands  Valley,  which  is  in  the  extreme  western  part  of 
the  county,  is  not  extensive,  but  has  become  one  of  the  busiest  and 
most  interesting  localities  in  Tazewell.  It  has  an  area  of  2  x  4  miles, 
or  5,000  acres  of  very  valuable  land.  The  most  of  it  is  bottom  land 
and  lies  on  the  north  and  south  sides  of  Clinch  River,  which 
winds  its  way  through  the  valley.  From  these  fertile  river  lands 
the  place  received  its  name,  and  in  their  midst  is  located  the  thriv- 
ing and  coming  town  of  Richlands.  The  local  industrial  enter- 
prises, including  nearby  coal  operations,  furnish  a  good  market  for 
most  of  the  products  of  the  smaller  farmers. 

CLEAR   FORK   VALLEY. 

The  Clear  Fork  Valley  is  situated  at  the  extreme  east  side  of 
Tazewell  County,  and  extends  from  the  divide  at  Gratton,  six  miles 
east  of  the  Court  House,  to  Rocky  Gap  in  Bland  County.  That  part 
of  the  valley  which  lies  within  Tazewell  County  has  an  area  approx- 
imately of  8y2  X  2  miles,  or  11,000  acres.  The  valley  lies  between 
Rich  and  Buckhorn  mountains,  and  received  its  name  from  the 
beautiful  creek  that  is  a  branch  of  Wolf  Creek. 

When  the  pioneers  came  in  from  the  east  they  traveled  up  Clear 
Fork,  where  they  found  and  followed  a  trail  that  had  been  made  by 
herds  of  buffalo  and  that  had  been  used  by  Indian  hunting  and  war 
parties  in  their  travels  to  and  from  the  New  River  Valley.  The 
farms  on  Clear  Fork  are  not  large,  but  they  are  fertile  and  cultivated 
with  great  industry;  and  the  products  are  bountiful.  The  farmers 
of  that  section  always  have  something  to  sell,  and  they  are  a  thrifty 
and  excellent  people. 

T.H.— 33 


514  History  of  Tazewell  County 


WRIGHT  8    VALLEY. 


The  valley  known  as  Wright's  Valley  lies  both  east  and  west  of 
the  divide  at  Tiptop.  In  1772  Major  John  Taylor  settled  at  the 
extreme  west  end  of  the  valley,  near  the  place  afterwards  owned  by 
his  son  Charles,  and  known  as  the  "Charles  Taylor  place."  Jesse 
Evans  settled  the  same  year  just  west  of  the  village  of  Tiptop,  at 
the  place  afterwards  known  as  the  "Buse  Harman  place."  The 
valley  later  received  its  name  from  a  man  named  Wright;  and  it 
was  called  Wright's  Valley  as  early  as  1782.  It  has  an  area  of 
about  9I/2  X  1  miles,  or  6,000  acres. 

The  north  fork  of  Clinch  River  heads  in  the  western  part  of 
Wright's  Valley,  and  one  of  the  branches  of  Bluestone  heads  in  that 
part  of  the  valley  east  of  the  divide.  When  the  Indians  came  up 
Tug  Fork  to  make  attacks  upon  the  settlers  they  always  passed 
tlirough  Wright's  Valley ;  and  Jesse  Evans'  children  were  massacred 
by  the  savages  in  1779.  Evans  was  then  living  at  the  Buse  Harman 
place.  There  are  some  excellent  farms  in  the  west  end  of  the  valley, 
notably  that  of  the  late  W.  G.  Mustard,  which  is  now  owned  by  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Henry  S.  Bowen. 


ABB  S   VALLEY. 


The  valley  in  Tazewell  County  that  has  been  written  of  and 
talked  about  most  is  Abb's  Valley.  Its  area  is  small  when  compared 
with  some  of  the  most  noted  localities  of  the  county,  but  it  has  been 
given  extended  notoriety  from  the  tragic  fate  that  befell  Captain 
James  Moore  and  his  family.  The  valley  received  its  name  from 
Absalom  Looney  who  discovered  it  while  on  a  hunting  and  sang- 
digging  expedition  west  of  New  River.  It  covers  an  area  of  approx- 
imately 10  X  1  miles,  and  contains  about  6,400  acres  of  fine  grazing 
and  farming  land. 

Wlien  James  Moore  and  Robert  Poage  moved  with  their  families 
to  Abb's  Valley,  in  1770  or  1771,  they  found  an  abundance  of  pas- 
turage for  their  stock,  as  a  considerable  part  of  the  valley  was 
destitute  of  forest  growth,  and  a  heavy  bluegrass  sod  covered  the 
open  spots.  The  valley  is  very  cavernous,  and,  as  a  result,  no 
running  surface  stream  flows  down  or  across  it.  All  the  branches 
that  come  down  from  the  hollows  or  the  ridges,  and  the  springs 
that  burst  out  at  the  base  of  the  hills  sink  and  enter  the  caverns. 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


515 


These  create  an  underground  stream  that  courses  down  the  valley, 
and  gushes  out  as  a  big  spring  near  the  east  end  of  the  valley. 

Until  the  railroad  was  built  to  Pocahontas  in  1883,  Abb's  Valley 
was  one  of  the  most  isolated  and  inaccessible  sections  of  Tazewell 
County.  Pocahontas  is  just  across  the  ridge  that  bounds  the  valley 
on  the  north,  and  the  water  supply  of  the  town  is  procured  from 
the  big  spring  referred  to  above.  A  part  of  the  estate  of  Captain 
James  Moore  is  owned  by  his  great-grandson,  Oscar  Moore,  and 
another  part  by  his  great-granddaughter,  Mrs.  Samuel  P.  Mustard. 
The  greater  part  of  the  valley  has  passed  from  the  possession  of 
the  descendants  of  the  early  settlers. 

THE   BLUESTONE   VALLEY. 

Of  the  various  valleys  in  Tazewell  County  not  one  is  more 
interesting  and  important  than  the  Bluestone  Valley.  In  extent  it 
is  equal  to  Burke's  Garden,  as  its  area  is  13  x  2l/^  miles,  or  20,000 
acres.  The  first  settlers  in  this  very  attractive  section  were: 
Thomas  and  James  Maxwell,  Benjamin  Joslin,  James  Ogleton, 
Jacob  and  Israel   Harman,  and  Samuel   Ferguson.      They  settled 


Charles  Fitzgerald  Tiffany,  whose  father,  Hugh  Tiffany,  was  one 
of  the  early  settlers  in  the  Bluestone  Valley.  He  married  a  daughter 
of  James  Moore,  the  captive.  Mr.  Tiffany  was  bom  June  6th,  1800 
and  died  Feb.  12th,  1876.  He  was  an  active  and  influential  citizen 
and  left  a  splendid  estate  to  his  only  child,  Mrs.  Alex  St.  Clair. 


516 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


there  in  1771  or  1772;  and  all  of  them,  except  Joslin  and  Ogleton, 
subsequently  became  conspicuous  figures  in  the  history  of  Tazewell. 
Bluestone  Valley  lies  along  the  north  side  of  East  River  Moun- 
tain. Beginning  at  the  divide  which  separates  the  waters  of  the 
Clinch  from  the  waters  of  the  Bluestone,  it  extends  in  an  easterly 
direction  to  a  point  southeast  of  Graham.  Through  the  entire  length 
of  the  valley  ran  the  old  Cumberland  Gap  and  Fincastle  Turnpike. 
A  splendid  modern  highway  now  occupies  the  location  of  the  old 
turnpike;  and  it  is,  perhaps,  the  most  traveled  road  in  the  county. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

DEVELOJ'MENT   OF   POLITICAL,   SOCIAL  AND   INDUSTKIAL   CHARACTER 
OF    ITS   PEOPLE. 

A  very  important  period  in  the  history  of  its  people  was  reached 
when  the  county  of  Tazewell  was  created  and  organized.  The 
political,  social,  and  industrial  character  of  the  people  who  then 
occupied  the  territory  of  the  new  county  had  to  be  developed  and 
fasiiioned.  Tazewell  County  had  been  made  an  integral  part  of 
tJie  government  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia;  and  thereby 
constituted  a  unit  of  the  great  Federal  Government,  that  eleven 
years  previously  had  been  brought  into  existence  by  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution  and  called  the  United  States  of  America. 
George  Washington  had  been  elected  and  inaugurated  as  President 
of  the  Nation,  in  1779,  and  had  been  elected  for  and  served  a  second 
tei-m. 

Immediately  following  the  first  inauguration  of  President  Wash- 
ington it  became  necessary  for  those  who  had  framed  the  Consti- 
tution to  interpret  its  true  intended  import  and  spirit;  and  apply 
it  to  the  conduct  of  the  splendid  Republic  which  the  fathers  had 
conceived  from  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights  and  the  Declaration  of 
Independence. 

In  May,  1784,  Mr.  Jefferson  was  appointed  by  Congress  min- 
ister plenipotentiary  to  Europe  to  assist  John  Adams  and  Benjamin 
Franklin  in  negotiating  treaties  of  commerce  with  the  several 
European  Powers;  and  in  March,  1785,  he  was  appointed  minister 
to  France  to  succeed  Dr.  Franklin.  He  continued  as  the  represen- 
tative of  the  United  States  at  the  French  Court  until  1789,  when, 
at  his  request,  he  was  granted  a  leave  of  absence  to  bring  his  daugh- 
ters, who  had  been  with  him  in  Paris,  back  to  their  home  at  Monti- 
cello.  .Upon  his  arrival  at  Norfolk,  Virginia,  he  received  a  letter 
from  President  Washington,  urgently  requesting  him  to  enter  his 
Cabinet  as  Secretary  of  State.  At  first  Mr.  Jefferson  was  reluc- 
tant to  accept  the  position,  as  he  wished  to  return  to  France  and 
witness  the  struggle  that  country  was  making  to  overthrow  the 
monarchy  and  establish  a  republican  form  of  government.  This 
he  hoped  to  see  done  upon  the  principles  set  forth  in  the  Virginia 
Bill  of  Rights ;  and  a  sj'stem  of  government  established  similar  to 

[  517  1 


518  History  of  Tazewell  County 

that  embodied  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  But,  at 
the  urgent  solicitation  of  John  Adams,  then  Vice  President,  James 
Madison,  and  other  distinguished  patriots  and  statesmen,  he  ac- 
cepted the  appointment  and  became  the  first  Secretary  of  State 
imder  the  Constitution. 

On  the  8th  of  March,  1790,  Mr.  Jefferson  started  from  Rich- 
mond for  New  York,  then  the  seat  of  government,  to  enter  upon 
the  important  duties  of  his  oflSce.  He  traveled  by  way  of  Phila- 
delphia to  have  an  interview  with  Dr.  Franklin,  who  was  then  lan- 
guishing from  what  proved  to  be  his  last  illness.  Franklin  and 
Jefferson  were  equally  earnest  advocates  of  a  popular  democratic 
form  of  government;  and  were  completely  in  accord  in  their  inter- 
pretation of  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  After 
his  interview  with  Franklin  he  journeyed  on  to  New  York,  arriving 
there  on  th<!  21st  of  the  month.  He  found  that  much  important 
business  had  already  accumulated  in  his  Department  of  the  Govern- 
ment; and  was  astounded  by  discovering  that  a  strong  desire  was 
being  expressed  for  a  monarchical  form  of  government  by  the 
wealthy  and  aristocratic  families  of  New  York.  This  sentiment 
was  not  confined  to  the  aristocrats  of  New  York,  but  was  being 
espoused  by  such  distinguished  political  leaders  as  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton, Fisher  Ames,  Governeur  Morris,  and  others.  Some  years  after- 
wards, Mr.  Jefferson  said: 

"Here,  certainly,  I  found  a  state  of  things,  which,  of  all  I  had 
ever  contemplated,  I  least  expected.  I  had  left  France  in  the  first 
year  of  her  revolution,  in  the  fervor  of  natural  rights,  and  zeal 
for  reformation.  My  conscientious  devotion  to  these  rights  could 
not  be  heightened,  but  it  had  been  aroused  and  excited  by  daily 
exercise.  The  President  received  me  cordially,  and  my  colleagues 
and  the  circle  of  principal  citizens,  apparently  with  welcome.  The 
courtesies  of  dinner  parties  given  me,  as  a  stranger  newly  arrived 
among  them,  placed  me  at  once  in  their  familiar  society.  But  I 
cannot  describe  the  wonder  and  mortification  with  which  the  table 
conversations  filled  me.  Politics  were  the  chief  topic,  and  a  pref- 
erence of  kingly  over  republican  government,  was  evidently  the 
favorite  sentiment.  An  apostate  I  could  not  be,  nor  yet  a  hypo- 
crite; and  I  found  myself,  for  the  most  part,  the  only  advocate  on 
the  republican  side  of  the  question,  unless  among  the  guests  there 


and  Southwest  Virginia  519 

chanced  to  be   some  member   of  that   party   from   the  legislative 
Houses." 

From  these  conditions  two  schools  of  political  and  social  thought 
sprang  immediately  into  existence,  and  were  the  origin  of  two  well 
defined  political  parties  that  were  widely  separated  on  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  civil  government.  One  of  these  schools,  in  the 
main,  taught  the  Jeffersonian  creed  of  popular  government,  while 
the  other  inculcated  the  Hamiltonian  theories  of  a  strong  central- 
ized government,  to  be  upheld  and  conducted  by  a  wealthy  and 
high-bom  class  of  citizens.  The  application  of  Hamilton's  theories 
would  have  excluded  Andrew  Jackson  and  Abraham  Lincoln  from 
the  Presidency.  Jefferson  held  rigidly  to  the  doctrine,  afterwards 
enunciated  by  Lincoln,  that  "this  is  a  government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  and  for  the  people."  Hamilton  contended  for  the 
doctrine,  that  this  should  be  "a  government  of  the  people,  by  a 
part  of  the  people,"  as  William  Howard  Taft  declared  it  to  be  in 
his  abortive  campaign  for  re-election  to  the  Presidency  in  1912. 

It  was  hardly  possible  for  the  Tazewell  pioneers,  then  living, 
or  their  sons,  to  do  otherwise  than  join  the  great  Jeffersonian  polit- 
ical legion  when  the  county  entered  the  State  and  National  govern- 
ments as  a  political  unit.  The  spirit  which  led  them,  or  their 
ancestors,  to  migrate  from  monarchical  Europe  in  quest  of  political 
and  religious  freedom,  and  to  leave  the  eastern  colonies,  where  the 
colonial  governments  were  dominated  by  extreme'  royalists,  had 
grown  in  intensity  after  they  came  into  the  wilderness  to  make  their 
homes.  His  cabin  was  for  the  pioneer  settler  a  castle  of  freedom; 
and  none  of  the  first  generation  of  men  born  in  Tazewell  had  ever 
breathed  the  atmosphere  of  privilege;  but  each  and  every  one  of 
these  had  inhaled  the  precious  ozone  of  the  young  democracy  that 
Thomas  Jefferson  sought  to  place  in  charge  of  the  new  Republic. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  political  thought  and  characteristics 
of  the  people  of  Tazewell  were  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  Popular 
Government  and  State  Sovereignty  theories  of  Thomas  Jefferson. 
And  at  the  very  first  opportunity  given  them  as  citizens  of  a  dis- 
tinct county,  they  so  recorded  their  convictions.  This  was  at  the 
Presidential  election  in  1804,  when  Mr.  Jefferson  was  elected  Presi- 
dent for  a  second  term.    The  number  of  votes  cast  in  the  county  at 


520  History  of  Tazewell  County 

that  election  was  very  small,  but  the  entire  vote  was  given  for  the 
electors  that  were  the  known  supporters  of  Thomas  Jefferson. 

From  that  time  until  the  present  day  the  people  of  Tazewell 
have  cherished  and  stood  firmly  for  popular  republican  government. 
At  the  Presidential  election  in  1828,  when  Andrew  Jackson  had 
become  the  leader  and  was  the  candidate  of  the  Jeffersonian  Democ- 
racy, a  very  large  vote  was  polled,  and  the  "Jackson  Ticket  For 
Electors"  received  every  vote  polled  in  the  county,  save  three,  that 
were  cast  for  the  electors  of  the  Whig  party.  The  Whigs  had 
John  Quincy  Adams  as  their  candidate  for  President,  and  Richard 
Rush  was  their  candidate  for  Vice  President.  I  have  two  of  the 
Jackson  Tickets  in  my  possession  that  were  used  at  the  election  in 
Tazewell  County.  One  of  these  was  voted  by  my  father,  his  name 
being  written  on  the  back  of  the  ballot,  as  required  by  law  in  that 
day.  I  have  also  one  of  the  Adams  Tickets  which  was  used  by 
James  Mahood,  as  his  name  is  written  on  its  back.  Politicians  in 
1828  were  as  apt  as  they  are  today  in  making  false  and  alarmist 
appeals  to  the  voters.  The  ballot  used  by  James  Mahood  was  taken 
from  the  Lynchburg  Virginian,  a  Whig  paper,  and  at  its  head  is 
printed  the  following  stirring  appeal: 

"This  Day  Fortnight,  the  great  and  eventful  contest  will  be 
decided.  All  we  need  say  to  our  friends,  is.  Go  To  The  Polls  on 
that  day,  and  record  your  votes  for  Johti  Q.  Adams,  Richard  Bush, 
and  Civil  Liberty,  against  Andrew  Jackson  and  Military  Rule, 
John  C.  Calhoun,  and  Disunion." 

The  demagogic  appeal  of  the  Whigs  was  repudiated  by  the 
freemen  of  Tazewell,  and  generally  by  the  voters  of  the  mountain 
region  west  of  New  River.  Andrew  Jackson  was  elected  President 
in  1828,  and  was  elected  for  a  second  term  four  years  later.  He 
became  the  political  hero  of  the  mountaineers ;  and  it  was  told,  that 
for  some  years  after  his  death  the  older  men  would  frequently  vote 
for  Andrew  Jackson  at  Presidential  elections.  Jackson  was  a 
consistent  and  persistent  disciple  of  Thomas  Jefferson. 

THE  SOCIAL   CUSTOMS. 

In  their  social  thought  and  relations  the  people  of  Tazewell 
were,  comparatively,  as  democratic  as  they  were  in  their  political 
characteristics.     The  adoption  and  cultivation  by  the  pioneers  of  a 


and  Southwest  Virginia  521 

community  feeling  and  spirit  created  a  social  system  that  has  not 
entirely  disaj^peared  from  the  county.  The  first  settlers  had  come 
here  to  get  away,  if  possible,  from  the  distasteful  political  and 
social  customs  of  Europe,  that  were  the  spawn  of  monarchy  and 
aristocracy.  In  1774,  Governor  Dunmore  declared,  in  a  report  to 
Lord  Dartmouth,  that  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  frontier  settlers 
"to  form  a  Set  of  Democratical  Governments  of  their  own,  upon 
the  backs  of  the  old  Colonies ;  a  scheme  which,  for  obvious  reasons, 
I  apprehend  cannot  be  allowed  to  be  carried  into  execution." 

Clearly  it  was  the  purpose  of  our  pioneer  ancestors  to  exclude 
from  the  society  they  were  founding  in  the  wilderness,  the  old 
distinctions  of  caste  and  privileged  classes ;  and  to  establish  among 
themselves  a  condition  of  wholesome  social  equality,  devoid  of 
unrighteous  individualism.  They  sought  to  form  a  community  where 
pojDular  freedom  could  be  exercised  on  the  widest  basis  consistent 
with  the  general  good;  where  each  man  could  say  what  he  thought, 
unchecked  by  religious  creeds,  and  untrammeled  by  despotical  gov- 
ernment. That  they  had  any  desire  to  fashion  a  community  that 
would  be  featured  with  unlicensed  freedom  or  dominated  by  ruf- 
fianism, is  negatived  by  the  excellent  social  and  domestic  order  that 
was  maintained  in  the  Upper  Clinch  settlements  before  they  were 
incorporated  with  and  conducted  by  the  civil  government  of  Vir- 
ginia. 

In  a  social  way  all  the  first  settlers  stood  upon  the  same  plane. 
They  had  come  here  seeking  homes  and  freedom,  and  they,  each,  had 
precisely  the  same  occupation,  that  of  home-makers.  Their  duties 
as  members  of  the  community  were  identical — to  build  cabins  for 
their  families,  clear  fields  from  the  forests,  and  from  the  fertile 
soil  win  an  abundant  subsistence  for  their  dependents.  They  all, 
alike,  had  another  important  common  duty  to  perform,  that  was  to 
help  defend  the  settlements  against  the  savage  enemy.  If  idlers 
or  criminals  tried  to  fasten  themselves  upon  the  community,  they 
were  forced  to  move  on  into  the  remote  wilderness,  or  to  return  to 
the  place  from  whence  they  came. 

There  were  no  ariscrats  among  the  pioneer  settlers ;  but  they 
were  not  illiterate  boors,  as  some  historians  would  have  us  believe. 
They  were  intelligent  and  fairly  well  educated  farmers  and  artisans, 
and  in  many  instances  combined  both  occupations.  The  common 
purposes,  interests  and  duties  of  the  pioneers  invoked  amongst  them 


522  History  of  Tazewell  County 

a  state  of  social  equality  as  nearly  perfect  as  it  can  be  found  in 
organized  human  society.  Thus  were  they  and  their  sons  prepared 
to  receive,  accept,  assimilate,  and  uphold  the  great  social  truths 
written  into  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights  by  the  fathers:  "That 
all  men  are  by  nature  equally  free  and  independent,  and  have  certain 
inherent  rights,  of  which,  when  they  enter  into  a  state  of  society, 
they  cannot,  by  any  compact,  deprive  or  divest  their  posterity; 
namely  the  enjoyment  of  life  and  liberty,  with  the  means  of  acquir- 
ing and  possessing  property,  and  pursuing  and  obtaining  happiness 
and  safety." 

The  men  of  Tazewell  came  from  the  people,  and,  when  they 
became  a  factor  in  the  politics  of  the  country,  they  heartily  embraced 
the  popular  cause. 

THE   INDUSTRIAL    CHARACTER   OF   THE   PEOPLE. 

The  three  physical  agents — climate,  soil,  and  the  aspects  of 
nature — have  been  generally  accepted  as  the  most  potential  factors 
in  originating  and  shaping  the  industrial  character  of  a  nation,  or 
the  communities  of  which  it  is  composed.  These  agents  necessarily 
fixed  for  the  Tazewell  pioneers  the  vocations  they  and  their  children 
should  adopt  and  follow.  They  had  been  attracted  to  this  region 
by  its  rich  lands,  splendid  forests,  numerous  fountains  and  streams, 
abundance  of  game,  and  magnificent  scenery.  But  the  supreme 
attraction  was  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  which  naturally  produced 
the  most  nutritious  herbage  for  both  wild  and  domestic  animals; 
and  where  heavy  yields  of  cereals  could  be  produced  when  the 
forests  were  cleared  away  and  fields  prepared  for  cultivation. 
Hence,  when  each  settler  moved  in,  he  brought  along  with  his  family 
the  necessary  implements  for  making  clearings  and  cultivating  the 
soil — axes,  hilling  and  grubbing  hoes,  colter  plows,  and  so  forth. 
They  came  here  to  be  farmers  and  graziers;  and  from  the  time  of 
their  arrival  all  their  energy  was  directed  to  agricultural  pursuits. 

It  is  a  singular  coincidence  that  the  men  of  Tazewell  not  only 
accepted  his  political  and  social  doctrines,  but  adopted  the  vocation 
that  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  father  of  American  democracy,  most 
highly  esteemed.  When  he  was  minister  plenipotentiary  to  Europe, 
with  authority  to  negotiate  commercial  treaties  with  the  govern- 
ments of  that  continent,  there  was  a  very  grave  question  connected 
with  his  work.     It  was,  whether,  in  making  commercial  treaties 


and  Southwest  Virginia  523 

with  foreign  countries,  the  maritime  and  manufacturing  interests 
of  the  United  States  should  have  first  consideration.  In  a  jorivate 
letter,  written  from  Paris  on  the  23rd  of  August,  1785,  to  John 
Jay,  then  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs  for  the  Confederated  States, 
Mr.  Jefferson  gave  expression  to  some  very  interesting  convictions 
on  the  disputed  question.     He  said: 

"Cultivators  of  the  earth  are  the  most  valuable  citizens.  They 
are  the  most  vigorous,  the  most  independent,  the  most  virtuous,  and 
they  are  tied  to  their  country,  and  wedded  to  its  liberty  and  inter- 
ests, by  the  most  lasting  bonds.  As  long,  therefore,  as  they  can 
find  employment  in  this  line,  I  would  not  convert  them  into  mariners, 
artisans,  or  anything  else.  But  our  citizens  will  find  employment 
in  this  line,  till  their  numbers,  and  of  course  their  productions, 
become  too  great  for  the  demand,  both  internal  and  foreign.  This 
is  not  the  case  as  yet,  and  probably  will  not  be  for  a  considerable 
time.  As  soon  as  it  is,  the  surplus  of  hands  must  be  turned  to  some- 
thing else.  I  should  then,  perhaps,  wish  to  turn  them  to  the  sea 
in  preference  to  manufactures,  because,  comparing  the  characters 
of  the  two  classes,  I  find  the  former  the  most  valuable  citizens.  I 
consider  the  class  of  artificers  as  the  panders  of  vice,  and  the  instru- 
ments by  which  the  liberties  of  a  country  are  generally  overturned." 

Mr.  Jefferson  then  tells  Mr.  Jay,  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  at  least  in  those  States  that  had  deep  water  transportation 
and  bordered  on  the  sea,  "are  decided  in  the  opinion,  that  it  is 
necessary  for  us  to  take  a  share  in  the  occupation  of  the  ocean." 
He  conceded  that  this  had  to  be  done,  and  then  prophetically 
aimounced: 

"But  what  will  be  the  consequence?  Frequent  wars  without 
a  doubt.  Their  property  will  be  violated  on  the  sea,  and  in  foreign 
ports,  their  persons  will  be  insulted,  imprisoned,  etc.,  for  pretended 
debts,  contracts,  crimes,  contraband,  etc.,  etc.  These  insults  must 
be  resented,  even  if  we  had  no  feelings,  yet  to  prevent  their  eternal 
repetition;  or,  in  other  words,  our  commerce  on  the  ocean  and  in 
other  countries  must  be  paid  for  by  frequent  war." 

The  resolve  of  the  people  of  the  Eastern  States  to  make  this 
a  maritime  and  manufacturing  nation,  did  provoke  war;  but  not 
"frequent  war,"  as  Mr.  Jefferson  feared  and  anticipated  it  would. 


524  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Our  war  with  England  in  1812  was  occasioned  by  her  gross  violation 
of  our  commerce  on  the  seas^  and  the  insults  and  outrages  inflicted 
upon  our  seamen.  But  we  gave  Great  Britain  a  sound  drubbing  in 
that  war,  and  no  nation  has  since,  until  the  recent  horrible  world- 
wide war,  dared  to  interfere  sufficiently  with  our  rights  upon  the 
seas  to  drag  us  into  a  conflict. 

We  have  a  right  to  presume  that  the  pioneers,  in  making  choice 
of  a  life  vocation,  were  animated  by  the  same  spirit  that  induced 
the  Sage  of  Monticello  to  so  dignify  agricultural  labor,  by  declaring 
that  "Cultivators  of  the  earth  are  the  most  valuable  citizens." 
The  experience  of  our  country,  accumulated  during  the  jDast  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  j'cars,  has  confirmed  the  absolute  verity  of 
Mr.  Jefferson's  opinions.  But,  if  the  pioneers  had  not  become 
farmers  and  graziers  from  choice,  they  would  have  been  compelled 
to  follow  these  pursuits  from  necessity.  They  had  established  their 
homes  in  a  region  so  isolated  and  remote  from  the  older  settlements, 
that  they  would  have  found  it  impossible  to  furnish  their  families 
with  ample  supplies  of  food,  excej^t  by  getting  it,  with  their  own 
labor,  from  the  rich  lands  on  which  they  had  settled. 

The  Clinch  Valley  settlements  were  then  the  most  inaccessible 
west  of  New  River.  All  approaches  from  both  the  New  River  and 
the  Holston  Valley  were  rough  and  dangerous.  There  were  no 
roads  that  could  be  traveled  with  vehicles  of  any  kind;  and  the 
bridle  patlis  were  steep  and  perilous.  Over  high  mountains  and 
along  narow  paths  everything  taken  to  and  brought  from  the  distant 
settlements  had  to  be  transported  on  pack-horses.  Even  as  late  as 
1799,  when  certain  citizens  of  Wythe  and  Russell  petitioned  the 
General  Assembly  for  the  erection  of  a  new  county  (Tazewell), 
the  first  reason  urged  in  the  petition,  was,  that:  "Our  Roads  also 
are  Intollerably  bad;  Many  of  Your  Petitioners  have  to  cross  four 
Large  Mountains,  the  least  of  which  chain,  would  in  the  Interior 
parts  of  the  State,  be  considered  almost  Impassible,  And,  between 
each  of  these  Mountains  there  are  Rapid  Water  Courses,  which  in 
common  with  all  the  streams  Among  Mountains  are  Quickly  made 
Impassible  by  Rains,  and  Renders  the  passage  Dangerous,  as  well 
as  Fatigueing  &  Expensive."  The  petitioners  had  to  endure  these 
severe  hardships  and  dangers  when  traveling  to  and  from  their 
respective  court  houses,  where  they  said  they  were  compelled  to  go 
to  transact  their  "Ordinary  Business,  besides  Regimental  Musters, 


and  Southwest  Virginia  525 

Elections  &c,  in  which  cases  the  Laws  of  the  State  Require  our 
attendance." 

Thirty  years  had  passed  since  the  first  settlers  came  to  the 
Clinch  Valley,  and  with  the  population  sufficiently  increased  to 
warrant  the  erection  for  them  of  a  new  county,  the  region  still 
remained  isolated  and  difficult  of  access.  The  existing  conditions 
fixed  inexorably  the  industrial  status  of  the  people  of  Tazewell. 
They  were  decreed,  from  choice  and  by  their  physical  surroundings, 
to  make  agriculture  their  chief  business ;  farmers  and  graziers  they 
became,  and  their  descendants  and  successors  have  wisely  continued 
to  pursue  the  same  honorable  and  lucrative  calling. 

After  the  organization  of  the  county,  the  attention  of  the  land- 
holders was  primarily  directed  to  the  breeding  and  raising  of  live- 
stock for  market — cattle,  horses,  sheep,  and  swine.  There  were 
several  cogent  reasons  for  the  adoption  of  this  plan.  One  was,  that, 
with  the  abundance  of  bluegrass  that  sprang  up  in  the  clearings, 
and  the  grass  and  pea  vine  that  grew  abundantly  in  the  forests,  it 
required  much  less  labor  to  raise  domestic  animals  than  to  produce 
grain.  But  the  principal  reason  for  making  grazing  their  occupa- 
tion was  that  they  had  no  available  markets  for  their  surplus  grain, 
on  account  of  a  lack  of  transportation  facilities.  On  the  other  hand, 
they  could  feed  their  surplus  grain  to  their  cattle  and  horses  in  the 
winter  season,  and  after  grazing  them  in  the  summer,  drive  them  to 
eastern  markets  and  get  good  prices  for  them.  From  the  very 
beginning  the  live-stock  raised  and  grazed  in  Tazewell  has  been 
esteemed  as  of  the  best  produced  on  the  continent. 


Situated  four  hundred  miles  from  the  ocean,  and  one  hundred 
miles  from  the  nearest  navigable  stream,  the  Ohio  River,  nature 
decreed  that  Tazewell  County  should  not  be  what  is  known  as  a 
manufacturing  community.  But  remoteness  from  marts,  and  inade- 
quate means  of  transportation,  made  it  imperative  that  the  first 
settlers  should  be  manufacturers  for  home  consumption.  They  had 
to  make  fabrics  for  their  clothing,  furniture  and  furnishings  for 
their  homes,  farm  implements,  etc.  These  articles  were  really 
home  manufactures,  as  they  were  made  in  the  homes  and  shops  of 
the  settlers.  Gradually  men  in  each  community  found  it  profitable 
to  engage   chiefly   in  mechanical   pursuits,  and  to   establish   shops 


526  History  of  Tazewell  County 

for  custom  work.  But  weaving,  the  most  important  industry,  was 
still  confined  to  the  homes,  and  was  done  by  the  wives  and  daughters 
of  each  household.  The  manufacturing  habits  of  the  first  settlers 
were  ahered  to  by  their  descendants  for  several  generations.  Writ- 
ing in  1862,  under  the  heading,  "Home  Manufactures,"  Dr.  Bickley 
said: 

"Linsey,  jeans,  tow-linen,  flax-thread,  hose,  and  carpets,  are  the 
principal  home  manufactures  of  this  county:  the  value  of  which, 
according  to  the  census  report,  is  twenty-five  thousand  four  hun- 
dred dollars.  I  have  no  data  from  which  to  estimate  the  amount  of 
either,  but  am  satisfied  that  jeans  and  linsey,  stand  first  in  value- 
ation.  Tow-linen,  which  sells  for  about  ten  cents  per  yard,  does 
not  cost  the  Tazewell  manufacturer  far  short  of  thirty  cents.  A 
like  statement  might  be  made  about  the  whole  list. 

"These  articles  are  manufactured  at  the  houses  of  the  farmers, 
their  plantations  supplying  all  the  materials,  except  cotton,  which 
is  imported  from  North  Carolina,  spun  and  put  up  in  bales.  Wool 
is  carded  by  machines  in  the  county,  and  spun  by  hand.  The  weav- 
ing is  done  on  the  common  hand-loom.  House  furniture,  of  nearly 
all  kinds,  is  manufactured  in  the  county.  Saddles,  boots,  shoes, 
iron-work,  etc.,  is  also  done  here.  Lumber  of  the  finest  quality, 
may  here  be  had,  for  the  trouble  of  cutting  it." 

Bickley  thought  it  was  a  serious  mistake  for  the  farmers  to 
liave  their  wives  and  daughters  give  so  much  of  their  time  to 
domestic  affairs,  especially  to  spinning,  weaving,  and  manufacturing 
fabrics  for  clothing  and  other  family  uses.  He  claimed  that  this 
was  done  at  the  expense  of  the  education  of  the  youth  of  the 
county.  If  that  result  did  follow,  of  course  it  was  very  unfor- 
tunate. But,  if  the  manufacturing  at  home  of  necessary  clothing 
and  other  articles  for  one's  family  is  an  economic  error,  it  is  also 
a  mistake  for  a  nation  to  manufacture  such  things  for  its  own 
people,  if  they  can  be  purchased  from  foreigners  cheaper  than  they 
can  be  made  at  home.  At  any  rate,  the  people  of  Tazewell  manu- 
factured what  they  could  at  home  for  a  period  of  more  than  fifty 
years  after  the  coimty  was  erected,  and  that  they  were  happy  and 
prosperous  is  beyond  dispute. 

There  were  many  useful  things  woven  by  the  pioneer  mothers 
and  daughters  that  Dr.  Bickley  failed  to  enumerate.     Table  linen, 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


527 


napery,  smooth  and  bleached  as  white  as  snow,  made  from  flax 
growTi  on  the  farms — broken,  scotched,  and  hackled  by  the  men, 
boys  and  girls,  and  spun  into  thread  as  fine  as  hair — was  a  part  of 
the  fruits  that  came  from  the  looms  of  our  foremothers.  And 
counterpaines  or  coverlets,  made  from  cotton  or  finest  wool,  and 
blankets  fleecy  white,  were  woven  on  these  same  looms.  Some  of 
the  counterpaines  were  of  as  exquisite  design  and  as  carefully 
woven  as  any  similar  piece  that  ever  came  from  an  Oriental  loom. 


Last  large  walnut  log  exported  from  Tazewell  County. 

The  walnut  log  shown  above  was  cut  and  exported  from  Taze- 
well about  fifteen  years  ago.  Its  size  can  be  estimated  from  the 
horse  power  used  to  pull  it  over  well  graded  roads  to  the  railway 
station.  This  log,  however,  was  almost  a  sapling  as  compared 
with  the  immense  trees  that  were  found  in  the  Clinch  Valley  by  the 
pioneers.  In  the  early  days  of  the  county  a  walnut  tree  stood  on 
the  J.  W.  Sheffey  place  at  Pounding  Mill.  It  was  hollow  at  the 
butt,  and  was  blown  down;  and  its  size  was  so  immense  that  a 
man  on  horseback  rode  through  the  hollow  of  it.  A  poplar  tree 
stood  at  the  head  of  Thompson  Valley  on  E.  R.  Thompson's  land 


528  History  of  Tazewell  County 

that  measured  36  feet  in  circumference.  It  was  very  tall  and  well 
proportioned.  Some  fifty  years  ago  a  poplar  tree  stood  on  Rich 
Hill  near  Pounding  Mill.  It  was  hollow  at  the  butt.  Tliis  tree 
broke  off  eighteen  or  twenty  feet  above  the  ground,  and  it  was  more 
than  10  feet  in  diameter  inside  the  hollow.  Isaac  and  Robert  Patrick 
had  a  contract  with  Capt.  Jno.  P.  Sheffey  to  clear  a  boundary 
of  land  where  this  tree  stood.  They  were  engaged  on  the  job  about 
two  years ;  and  tliey  reduced  the  height  of  the  stump  about  half, 
covered  it  and  lived  in  the  hollow  for  the  two  years. 


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<9i 

See  some  of  the  implements  the  pioneer  women  used  for  manu- 
facturing fabrics  to  make  clothing  for  their  families.  The  woman 
standing  by  the  loom  is  Miss  Nannie  Gregory,  one  of  the  very  few 
expert  weavers  now  left  in  the  county.  She  is  wearing  the  poke 
bonnet  her  grandmother  wore  many  years  ago.  The  loom,  which  was 
her  grandmother's,  is  a  hundred  years  old,  as  are  also  the  spinning 
wheels  and  reel  seen  in  the  picture. 

Fortunately  weaving  had  not  become  a  lost  art  in  Tazewell  when 
the  Civil  War  came  on.  Spirming  wheels  and  old  hand-looms  were 
brought  into  active  use  during  that  eventful  period.  The  men  from 
Tazewell  who  were  engaged  in  military  service  for  the  Confederacy 
were  well  supplied  with  clothing  made  from  webs  of  cloth  woven 
by  their  mothers,  wives,  and  sisters  at  home.  And  the  old-time 
linsey  gowns  did  splendid  service  for  the  rosy-cheeked  daughters 
of  Tazewell.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  see  some  of  the  fair  girls 
wearing  these  gowns,  as  pretty  as  any  made  from  the  most  gorgeous 
Scotch  plaids. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  529 

There  was  but  little  change  in  the  industrial  habits  and  condi- 
tions of  the  people  of  the  county  when  tlie  census  was  taken  in 
1850.  At  that  time  there  were  in  the  county  10  physicians,  8  law- 
yers, 36  teachers,  22  merchants,  9  clerks,  2  printers,  3  tavern 
keepers,  and  one  barber,  a  total  of  91  persons  engaged  in  non-pro- 
ductive callings.  There  were  163  persons  employed  in  mechanical 
and  manufacturing  pursuits,  as  follows:  10  saddlers,  1  painter,  2 
hatters,  10  shoemakers,  7  brick  masons,  41  carpenters,  9  millers, 
11  wagon  makers,  21  blacksmiths,  16  tanners,  18  cabinet  makers, 
2  gunsmiths,  8  tailors,  2  coopers,  1  tinner,  and  1  watchmaker. 
According  to  the  census  there  were  1,922  farmers  in  the  county  in 
1850,  and  Tazewell  County  was  still  a  pronounced  agricultural 
community. 


T.H.— 34 


530  History  of  Tazewell  County 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  ROADS  OF  TAZEWELL  COUNTY GROWTH   IN  POPULATION 

AND    WEALTH,    ETC. 

From  the  very  outset  one  of  the  most  serious  drawbacks  to  the 
progress  and  development  of  Tazewell  was  the  lack  of  good  roads. 
Even  when  the  county  was  formed  there  were  very  few,  if  any, 
roads  in  the  settlements  over  which  wagons  and  other  vehicles  could 
pass ;  and  there  was  nothing  but  bridle  paths  that  crossed  the  moun- 
tains. If  one  will  examine  the  records  of  the  county  court,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  roads  within  the  county  limits  for  some  years  after 
the  county  was  organized  were  a  very  vexing  question.  One  of  the 
most  important  reasons  assigned  bj^  the  petitioners  for  the  creation 
of  Tazewell  County,  was:     "Our  Roads  also  are  Intolerably  bad." 

The  first  highwa}'  that  was  built  across  Clinch  Mountain  was  the 
road  through  what  was  then  called  Thompson's  Gap,  and  where  a 
bridle  path  had  jDreviously  traversed  the  moimtain.  This  road 
began  at  the  northern  base  of  Clinch  Mountain,  at  or  near  the  house 
of  William  Thompson,  in  Thompson  Valley.  It  crossed  that  moun- 
tain to  Poor  Valley,  entering  the  valley  at  the  present  hamlet  of 
Tannersville.  The  grades  were  very  steep  and  the  road-bed  was 
narrow  and  exceedingly  rough.  This  was  for  many  years  the  only 
route  persons  could  use  when  going  from  Tazewell  to,  or  coming 
from,  the  Salt  Works,  or  other  points  in  the  Holston  Valley.  Before 
writing  his  history  of  Virginia,  Henry  Howe  visited  Tazewell 
County.  When  he  left  the  county  he  made  his  exit  by  the  road 
through  Thompson's  Gap.  He  was  so  impressed  with  the  grand 
scenery  that  he  made  a  picture  which  showed  a  section  of  the  road, 
and  which  was  published  in  his  history.  Here  is  what  Howe  said 
about  the  scenery  and  road: 

"It  was  late  in  a  November  evening  that  we  ascended  the  lofty 
Clinch  Mountain,  after  leaving  Tazewell  C.  H.  for  Abingdon,  and 
put  up  for  the  night  at  a  miserable  hut  on  its  summit.  The  next 
morning  the  sun  shone  bright  and  clear  as  we  buckled  on  our  knap- 
sack and  resumed  our  journey  through  a  light  snow  which  covered 
the    mountain-road    that    winds    with    great    steepness    down    the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  531 

declivity.  In  about  half  a  mile  was  presented  a  scene  of  which  none 
but  a  painting  in  the  highest  style  of  art  can  convey  an  adequate 
impression.  The  whole  of  a  vast  landscape  was  filled  with  a  sea 
of  mountains  beyond  mountains^  in  an  apparently  interminable  con- 
tinuity. Near,  were  huge  mountains,  dark  and  frowning,  in  the 
desolation  of  winter.  Beyond,  they  assumed  a  deep  blue  color,  and 
then  grew  fainter  and  fainter,  until  far  away  in  the  horizon — fifty 
or  sixty  miles — their  jagged  outlines  were  softened  by  distance,  and 
sky  and  mountain  met  and  mingled  in  the  same  light  cerulean  hue. 
Not  a  clearing  was  to  be  seen — not  even  a  solitary  smoke  from  some 
cabin  curled  up  the  intervening  valleys  to  indicate  the  presence  of 
man.     It  was — 

"A  wild  and  lonely  region,  where,  retired 
From  little  scenes  of  art  Nature  dwelt 
In  awful  solitude." 

When  a  small  boy,  the  author,  in  company  with  his  parents  and 
brothers,  traveled  over  this  road  frequently;  and  even  at  an  early 
age  was  impressed  with  thoughts  similar  to  those  expressed  by 
Howe.  It  took  nearly  half  a  day  to  cross  the  mountain  with  a 
carriage  or  other  vehicle.  We  often  rested  at  or  near  the  little 
cabin  Howe  mentions ;  and  ate  our  lunch  at  the  spring,  whose  waters 
were  highly  flavored  with  the  laurel  and  ivy  bushes  that  grew 
thickly  on  the  moimtain  top. 

After  leaving  Tazewell  C.  H.,  before  reaching  Clinch  Mountain, 
Henry  Howe  had  to  pass  through  Plum  Creek  Gap,  where  the  road 
was  then  rougher  and  more  dangerous  than  the  one  which  crossed 
Clinch  Mountain.  It  has  been  a  current  tradition,  that,  in  the 
thirties  of  the  last  century.  Judge  Benjamin  Estill,  then  Judge  of 
the  Superior  Court  of  Tazewell  County,  in  his  general  charge  to  the 
grand  jury  at  a  term  of  his  court,  made  special  mention  of  the 
wretched  condition  of  the  Plum  Creek  Gap  road.  He  had  been 
traveling  this  road  from  Abingdon  to  Jeffersonville  to  hold  his 
courts,  and  knew  what  a  frightful  pretense  it  was  for  a  highway. 
The  judge  directed  the  grand-jury  to  indict  the  overseer  of  the  road 
for  neglect  of  duty,  but  took  occasion  to  say  to  the  jury:  "You  have 
put  a  road  where  God  Almighty  never  intended  one  to  be  placed." 
What  would  Judge  Estill  say  now,  if  he  could  return  and  view  the 


532 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


splendid  highwaj'  that  passes  through  the  Gap,  over  which  auto- 
mobiles are  sped  at  a  rate  of  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  an  hour? 

A  road  similar  to  the  one  that  crossed  Clinch  Mountain  at 
Thompson's  Gap  was  built  across  Rich  Moimtain  and  through  the 
Gap  into  Burke's  Garden.  After  passing  through  the  Garden,  it 
connected  with  a  similar  road  that  crossed  Garden  and  Brushy 
mountains  into  Wythe  County,  and  from  thence  crossed  Walker's 
Mountain,  and  on  to  Wvtheville. 


Plum  Creek  Gap,  showing  a  section  of  the  modem  highway  built 
on  the  route  where  Judge  Estill  said  God  never  intended  a  road  to  be 
placed. 


All  the  roads  in  the  valleys  were,  comparatively,  as  wretchedly 
bad  as  thos  that  crossed  the  mountains,  and  most  of  them  were  even 
worse,  especially  in  the  winter  season. 

The  first  turnpike  road  that  was  built  in,  or  through,  the  county 
was  the  Cumberland  Gap  and  Fincastle  Turnpike.  It  was  built  by 
the  State;  and,  starting  at  Cumberland  Gap,  passed  through  the 
counties  of  Lee,  Scott,  and  Russell,  and  entered  Tazewell  County 
west  of  Midway.  Passing  Midway  and  Liberty  Hill,  it  ran  on  to 
Tazewell  Court  House.     From  the  Court  House  it  ran  bv  wav  of 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


533 


tlie  nortli  fork  of  Clincli  River  and  through  the  Bluestone  Valley 
to  the  head  of  East  River;  and  thence  down  that  stream  to  New 
River.  From  tliat  point  the  turnpike  continued  up  the  river,  passed 
through  the  Narrows,  on  by  Pearisburg,  and  again  reached  New 
River  at  Ripplemead.  There  persons  traveling  tlie  road  were 
ferried  across  the  river,  at  the  same  place  the  pioneers  crossed  the 
stream  when  they  came  to  the  Clinch.  On  the  east  side  of  New 
River  the  Cumberland  Gap  and   Fincastle  Turnpike  began  again. 


One  of  the  most  beautiful  old  homes  in  Tazewell  County.  It 
was  built  for  Colonel  Harvey  George  in  1832;  and  is  on  the  old 
Fincastle  and  Cumberland  Gap  Turnpike,  about  six  miles  west  of  the 
court  house.  In  recent  years  it  was  the  home  of  the  late  John  Bundy, 
and  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by  one  of  his  sons,  Wm.  Rees  Bundy. 


Thence  it  passed  Newport  in  Giles  County,  ran  up  Sinking  Creek 
into  the  present  Craig  County  to  Newcastle ;  and  thence  to  Fin- 
castle.    The  road  was  built  in  the  thirties  of  the  last  century. 

The  Tazewell  C.  H.  and  Fancy  Gap  Turnpike,  which  ran  from 
Jeffersonville  to  Wytlieville ;  and  the  Kentucky  and  Tazewell  C.  H. 
Turnpike,  which  ran  from  Jeft'ersonville  to  Grundy,  the  present 
county  seat  of  Buchanan  County,  were  chartered  by  the  Legisla- 
ture in  1848.  and  were  constructed  just  prior  to  1852.  These  two 
turnpikes  are  shown  on  a  map  in   Bickley's  History  of  Tazewell 


534  History  of  Tazewell  County 

County,  published  in  1852;  and  the  Cumberland  Gap  and  Fincastle 
Turnpike  also  appears  on  the  said  map. 

From  the  time  the  Cumberland  Gap  and  Fincastle  Turnpike  was 
constructed,  until  about  1850  or  1851,  that  road  was  the  principal 
thoroughfare  used  by  the  people  of  Tazewell  County  for  conveying 
their  products  to  the  eastern  markets.  And  all  the  merchandise 
and  other  articles  purchased  in  the  eastern  markets  for  consump- 
tion in  Tazewell  were  brought  here  in  wagons  over  this  same  road. 
The  cattle  and  horses  that  were  sold  from  the  county  were  driven 
east  by  this  route.     Sometimes  droves  of  cattle  numbering  a  thous- 


This  scene  is  located  on  what  is  called  ''Hubble  Hill";  and  the 
modem  road  is  built  on  the  location  of  the  old  Tazewell  C.  H.  and 
Kentucky  Turnpike.  Looking  south  Rich  Mountain  is  seen  in  the 
distance.  All  of  the  mountain  visible  in  the  picture  is  denuded  of 
the  heavy  original  forest,  and  the  sides  and  top  of  the  mountain  are 
covered  with  as  fine  bluegrass  sod  as  can  be  found  in  the  world. 

and,  or  more,  head  would  be  dri\en  to  the  Valley  of  Virginia  and 
to  Northern  Virginia;  and  there  disposed  of  in  bunches  to  farmers, 
who  would  graze  and  prepare  them  for  the  markets,  just  as  the 
export  cattle  are  now  prepared  by  the  Tazewell  graziers  for  export- 
ing. 

After  the  State  built  the  splendid  macadam  road,  which  extended 
in  an  unbroken  line  from  Buchanan,  in  Botetourt  County,  to  Seven 
Mile  Ford,  in  Smyth  County,  travel  and  traffic  from  and  to  Tazewell 
was  almost  completely  diverted  from  that  part  of  the  Cumberland 
Gap  and  Fincastle  Turnpike  east  of  Bluefield.  Transportation  was 
then  directed  across  the  mountains  to  Wytheville  over  the  Tazewell 
C.  H.  and  Fancy  Gap  Turnpike;  and  from  Wytheville  the  haul  was 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


535 


continued  eastward  until  the  advancing  line  of  the  Virginia  &  Ten- 
nessee Railroad  was  reached.  The  track  of  this  road  was  slowly 
laid  in  the  direction  of  Bristol,  and  got  to  Wytheville  in  1855. 
From  the  eastern  part  of  the  county  all  travel  and  traffic  was  then 
directed  to  Wytheville,  until  the  Norfolk  &  Western  built  its  line 
from  Radford  to  Graham. 

In  1858-59  the  Tazewell  and  Saltville  Turnpike  was  built  from 
the  Cove  across  Clinch  and  Little  Brushy  mountains  to  Poor  Valley ; 
and  from  that  time  the  travel  and  traffic  from  the  west  end  of  the 


A  view  of  the  Main  Street  of  Tazewell,  taken  ten  or  twelve  years 
ago.  Since  then  great  improvements  have  been  made  to  the  street 
and  buildings.  ,  ,  v.-Ui 

county  went  to  Saltville.  The  branch  railroad  from  Glade  Spring 
to  Saltville  had  been  previously  built,  giving  to  the  citizens  of  the 
west  end  of  Tazewell  County  greatly  improved  transportation 
facilities. 

Isolation  and  inaccesibility  have  always  been  regarded  as  two 
of  the  most  powerful  retardments  to  the  progress  and  development 
of  a  nation,  state,  or  community.  Against  these  uncompromising 
foes  of  wealth  and  civilization  the  Tazewell  pioneers  and  their 
descendants  and  successors  were  compelled  to  persistently  contend 
for  more  than  a  hundred  years  after  the  first  settlements  were  made 
here.     But  there  are  other  great  physical  causes  which  influence 


536  History  of  Tazewell  County 

and  govern  the  creation  and  accumulation  of  wealth  and  the  develop- 
ment of  a  high  civilization  in  nations  or  communities.  Among  these 
causes  are  a  fertile  soil  and  an  invigorating  climate.  Fortunately 
both  of  these — a  rich  soil  and  an  invigorating  climate — were  attri- 
butes of  the  Clinch  Valley  region ;  and  proved  ample  to  mitigate 
and  largely  overcome  the  disadvantages  of  isolation  and  inaccessi- 
bility from  which  the  inhabitants  of  Tazewell  suffered  before  rail- 
roads came  and  gave  them  access  to  the  outside  world. 

INCREASE    IN    POPULATION    AND    WEALTH. 

Although  the  people  of  Tazewell  were  greatly  hampered  by 
their  isolation,  there  was  a  steady  and  healthy  increase  in  the  popu- 
lation and  wealth  of  the  county  from  its  organization  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Civil  War.  The  population  was  2,127  when  the  county 
was  organized  in  1800.  The  census  taken  by  the  United  States 
each  succeeding  ten  years  placed  the  population  of  the  county  as 
follows:  In  1810,  3,007;  1820,  3,916;  1830,  5.749;  1840,  6,290; 
1850,  9,942;  1860,  9,920.  It  will  be  seen  that  there  was  a  decrease 
of  22  in  the  population  of  the  county  during  the  ten  years  that 
intervened  between  1850  and  1860.  This  was  due  to  the  formation 
of  McDowell  and  Buchanan  counties,  all  of  the  territory  which 
composed  McDowell  County  and  most  of  that  embraced  in  Buchanan 
being  taken  from  Tazewell  County.  McDowell  had  a  population  of 
1,535  in  1860,  and  Buchanan  had  2.793.  a  combined  population  of 
4.328.  If  these  two  counties  had  not  been  created  previous  to  the 
census  of  1860.  Tazewell's  population  would  have  been  about  13,000. 
The  increase  in  the  wealth  of  the  county  during  the  first  fifty 
.years  of  its  existence  was  normal  and  satisfactory.  Bickley  pub- 
lished in  his  history  in  1852  the  following  table  showing  the  wealth 
of  the  county : 

"Table  Showing  The  Wealth  of  The  County. 

"Value  of  lands  $3,189,080.00 

"    farming  utensils 36,390.00 

"    live  stock  517,330.00 

agricultural  productions  226,579.00 

mechanical  productions  7,000.00 

"    slave  property  530.000.00 

"    stock  in  trade  85,000.00 


Total  wealth  of  the  county $4,591,379.00" 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


537 


Bickley  published  another  table  in  his  history  which  showed 
that  there  were  58,110  acres  of  improved,  220,530  acres  unimproved, 
and  1,611,360  acres  of  land  unentered  or  in  large  surveys  within  the 
bounds  of  the  county  in  1852.  These  figures  he  must  have  obtained 
from  the  assessors  books  for  that  year;  and  it  is  evident  that  most 
of  the  unentered  land  and  the  large  surveys  were  in  the  bounds  of 
the  present  McDowell  and  Buchanan  counties.  The  improved  lands 
were  valued  in  Bickley's  table  at  $696,320  an  average  of  about 
$10  per  acre.     This  must  have  been  the  assessed  value,  as  many 


A  bunch  of  Dorset  lamb-,  over  one  hundred  in  number,  that  were 
bred  and  grazed  by  the  late  Henry  S.  Bowen.  They  had  been  weighed 
at  the  scales  of  the  Packing  House  at  North  Tazewell,  and  averaged 
102  lbs.  The  lambs  at  that  time  brought  about  five  or  six  dollars  each. 
In  1919  they  would  have  sold  for  fifteen  dollars  per  head. 

thousand  acres  of  the  improved  lands  had  a  much  larger  actual  or 
sales  value  at  that  time,  for  Bickley  said  of  the  lands  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  county  seat : 

"The  lands  are  well  improved;  and  will  compare  favorably  with 
any  in  the  county.  There  are  many  fine  farms  near  the  town,  among 
which  may  be  mentioned  those  of  Thos.  Peery,  Esq.,  John  Wynn, 
Esq.,  Col.  John  B.  George,  Kiah  Harman,  Henry,  Elias,  G.  W.,  and 
William  Harman,  Joseph,  and  TJiomas  G.  Harrisson,  A.  A.  Spotts, 
Harvey  G.  Peery,  Esq.,  and  Dr.  H.  F.  Peery.     50,000  acres  of  these 


538  History  of  Tazewell  County 

lands,  are  worth   from   forty  to   fifty   dollars   an  acre,  and  little 
could  be  purchased  for  even  that  sum." 

There  were  other  localities  in  the  county  where  the  lands  were 
considered  as  valuable,  even  more  valuable  than  those  about  Jeffer- 
sonville.  The  lands  in  Burke's  Garden  were  nearer  the  markets 
and  as  fertile  as  any  in  the  county;  and  in  writing  about  the  Cove, 
including  the  lands  of  Colonel  Henry  and  General  Rees  T.  Bowen, 
Bickley  said:  "I  hesitate  not  to  call  this  the  garden-spot  of  Taze- 
well county."  The  lands  that  Bickley  wrote  about  in  1852  now  have 
an  average  sales  value  of  $200  per  acre,  or  more.  Tazewell's  first 
historian  compiled  from  the  census  of  1850  a  table  showing  the 
kind,  number  and  value  of  the  live  stock  in  the  county.  It  is  as 
follows : 

Specified  kinds.                        Number.  Value. 

Horses  5,150 $309,000.00 

Mules  and  asses  127 8,890.00 

Milch  cows  4,576 54,840.00 

Working  oxens  117 2,340.00 

Other   cattle   10,260 102,600.00 

Sheep  19,530 19,530.00 

Swine  20,130 20,130.00 


Total  Value  of  live  stock  $517,330.00 

In  the  above  table,  compiled  by  Dr.  Bickley,  it  will  be  seen  that 
cows  were  valued  at  $11  per  head.  The  sheep  and  hogs  were, 
each,  valued  at  $1  per  head.  These  were  certainly  very  low  valua- 
tions, as  wool  was  then  worth  thirty  cents,  and  bacon  not  less  than 
ten  cents  a  pound,  and  the  valuations  must  have  been  based  on 
assessed  and  not  on  the  sales  value  of  the  animals. 

But  if  the  values  given  by  Bickley,  of  lands  and  live  stock,  be 
accepted  as  fair  and  adequate,  still  it  is  evident  that  Tazewell 
Coimty  had,  during  the  first  fifty  years  of  its  existence,  developed 
into  a  commimity  of  considerable  wealth.  This  conclusion  is  strongly 
sustained  by  the  fact  that  the  economic  condition  of  the  county  had 
become  so  excellent  that  two  banks  were  established  in  Jefferson- 
ville  as  early  as  1852.  One  of  these  was  a  branch  bank  of  the 
Northwestern  Bank  of  Virginia,  the  mother  bank  being  located  at 
Wheeling,  then  in  Virginia,  but  now  in  West  Virginia.     It  was  a 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


539 


bank  of  issue,  deposit,  and  discount.  In  1852  its  officers  were: 
President,  John  W.  Johnston;  Cashier,  Isaac  M.  Benham;  Clerk, 
Rees  B.  Gillispie. 

The  Directors  were  as  follows:  John  C.  McDonald,  John  B. 
George,  Kiah  Harman,  Geo.  W.  G.  Browne,  S.  F.  Watts,  Samuel  L. 
Graham,  and  Isaac  E.  Chapman.  This  bank  had  a  capital  of 
$100,000,  and  Friday  of  each  week  was  discount  day.  It  was  a 
flourishing  institution  and  continued  to  do  business  until  all  the 
State  banks  passed  out  of  existence  during  the  Civil  War. 


John  Warfield  Johnston  was  bom  near  Abingdon,  Virginia,  Sep- 
tember 19th,  1818.  His  mother  was  a  sister  of  Gen.  Rees  T.  Bowen. 
He  received  his  academic  education  at  Abingdon  Academy,  and  South 
Carolina  College,  Columbia,  S.  C;  studied  law  at  the  IJniversity  of 
Virginia;  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1839.  He  located  at  Jeffer- 
sonville,  and  was  Commonwealth's  Attorney  for  Tazewell  County  in 
1844-1846.  He  represented  the  county  and  district  in  the  State  Senate 
at  the  sessions  of  1844-45  and  1846-47.  In  1866  he  was  made  judge  of 
this  judicial  circuit  and  sensed  as  such  until  1870.  He  was  elected  to 
the  United  States  Senate  from  Virginia,  and  sei-ved  in  that  body  from 
October  26th,  1869,  to  March  3rd,  1883.  Judge  Johnston  died  in  Rich- 
mond, February  27th,  1889. 

The  other  bank  was  the  JefFersonville  Savings  Bank.  Its  officers 
were:  Cashier  or  Treasurer,  Addison  A.  Spotts;  Secretary,  William 
O.Yost.  The  Directory  was  constituted  as  follows:  Thomas  Peery, 
Rees  T.  Bowen,  A.  A.  Spotts,  Granville  Jones,  William  Cox,  Wil- 
liam O.  Yost,  John  C.  Hopkins.  Capital,  by  limitation,  $100,000. 
Discoiint  day,  Saturday.  This  bank  passed  out  of  existence  before 
the  Civil  War  began. 


540  History  of  Tazewell  County 

THE   RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 

The  religious  cliaracter  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  county  was 
coexistent  and  developed  along  with  the  social,  political,  and  relig- 
ious thouglit  of  the  people.  It  was  my  intention  to  give  an  accurate 
and  detailed  account  of  the  introduction  and  growth  of  the  various 
religious  denominations  that  now  have  church  organizations  in 
the  county.  For  the  accomplishment  of  this  purpose  the  ministers 
and  leading  lay  members  of  the  several  denominations  were 
requested  to  supply  necessary  data ;  but  the  world  war  so  completely 
engrossed  every  one's  attention  that  they  failed  to  supply  the  author 
with  any  information  in  time.  Dr.  Bickley  in  his  history  had 
a  brief  chapter  on  the  Church  History  of  Tazewell,  which  gives 
some  information  about  the  various  denominations  in  the  county  in 
the  year  1852.     It  is  as  follows: 

"No  portion  of  my  labors,  if  properly  investigated,  would  be 
more  interesting  tlian  this:  yet  the  paucity  of  material  afforded  me, 
makes  it  quite  difficult  to  give  anything  like  a  correct  and  full 
church  history  of  this  section.  The  principal  denominations  in  the 
county  are  Methodists,  Baptists,  Presbyterians,  and  Roman  Cath- 
olic; each  of  whom  will  be  noticed. 

"The  first  sermon  preached  in  the  county  was  in  1794,  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Cobbler,  appointed  to  tlie  New  River  circuit,  by  the  Baltimore 
confei-ence.  This  sermon  msLj  be  regarded  as  the  budding  of  Metho- 
dism in  Tazewell  county.  The  seeds  sown  by  this  good  man  fell 
upon  a  genial  soil,  and  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  Jeremiah 
Witten  and  Mi'S.  Sarah  Witten,  William  Witten  and  his  lady,  John 
and  Sarah  Peery,  Elizabeth  Greenup,  Samuel  Forguson,  Isabella 
Forguson,  and  two  colored  persons,  flock  around  the  Christian 
standard,  determined  that  Christ  should  not  be  forgotten,  even  in 
the  mountain-gorges  of  the  wild  'backwoods.' 

"Thomas  Peery  gave  them  a  piece  of  land,  and  in  1797  they 
built  a  meetinghouse  about  one  mile  west  of  Jeffersonville. 

"Between  1794-7,  meetings  were  generally  held  at  the  house  of 
Samuel  Forguson,  near  the  present  seat  of  justice.  Before  1794, 
prayer-meeting  was  the  only  form  of  worship  practiced:  this  seems 
to  have  been  coexistent  with  the  earliest  settlement.  The  march  of 
Methodism  has  been  steadily  onward;  they  have,  at  present,  seven 
cliurclies  in  regular  fellowship. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  541 

"The  first  Baptists  in  the  county,  were  the  Scaggs  and  Hankins. 
The  first  sermon  preached  to  them,  was  by  Rev.  Simon  Cotterel 
from  Russell  county,  in  1796.  Their  first  meetings  were  held  in 
private  houses,  in  the  Hankins'  settlement.  The  Baptists  seem 
not  to  have  made  as  rapid  progress  as  the  Methodists ;  as  they  have 
now  only  two  regular  churches  in  the  county.  I  have  been  unable  to 
learn  the  number  of  communicants,  but  understand  that  it  is  greater 
than  would  be  ."^apposed  from  the  number  of  churches. 

"The  first  Presbyterians  in  the  county  were  William  Peery, 
Samuel  Walker,  and  his  wife.  Prof.  Doak  preached  the  first  sermon 
to  them,  S(>mewhere  about  1798.  He  was  soon  followed  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Craw  ford,  from  Washington  county.  The  first  church  organ- 
ized was  in  the  Cove,  in  1833,  which  was  placed  in  charge  of  Rev. 
Dugald  Mclntyre,  assisted  by  Rev.  Mr.  McEwin.  This  church, 
from  some  cause,  was  suffered  to  go  down,  and  the  Presbyterians 
were  without  a  regular  church  till  the  summer  of  1851,  when  a 
church  was  organized  at  Jeffersonville,  and  placed  in  charge  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Naff.  They  have  one  church,  and  about  twenty  communi- 
cants. 

"At  what  time  the  first  Roman  Catholics  appeared  in  the  county, 
is  not  known.  Edward  Fox,  a  priest  who  resided  at  Wytheville, 
preached  the  first  sermon  to  them  in  a  union  church  at  Jeffersonville 
in  184-2.  He  continued  to  preach,  at  intervals,  till  the  close  of  the 
controversy  between  him,  and  President  Collins  of  Emory  and 
Henry  College.  Having  been  beaten  from  every  position,  he  quit 
Wytheville,  and  consequently  the  Tazewell  Catholics  were  left  with- 
out a  priest.  Bishop  Wlielan  coming  to  this  section  of  the  state, 
took  occasion  to  visit  his  flock  in  Tazewell ;  the  Methodists  opened 
their  pulpit  for  him,  and  in  acknowledgment  of  their  kindnesi,  one 
of  his  first  sentences  was  not  only  to  insult  them,  but  the  house  of 
God.  He  remarked,  he  "felt  embarassed  because  he  was  preaching 
in  an  unconsecrated  house."  President  Collins,  who  had  firmly 
opposed  the  spread  of  this  doctrine  in  South-western  Virginia,  being 
in  the  neighborhood,  heard  of  the  occurrence  and  replied  to  him 
in  a  few  days.  Notwithstanding  this,  Catholicism  began  to  spread, 
and  preparations  were  made  for  building  a  cathedral,  which  is  now 
in  course  of  construction." 

As  to  things  spiritual,  it  is  questionable  whether  there  has  been 
much  progress  made  on  that  line  in  the  county  since  the  days  of 


542  History  of  Tazewell  County 

which  Bickley  wrote.  There  are  more  church  organizations,  more 
Christian  denominations,  more  numerous  and  handsomer  church 
buildings,  and  there  are  hundreds  of  professed  Christians  where 
there  were  but  tens  in  the  early  days  of  the  county. 

The  people  who  attend  worship  are  better  dressed,  and  better 
educated;  and  thousands  of  youths  and  children  are  being  trained 
in  Sunday  Schools  and  other  church  organizations  that  have  been 
established  for  their  benefit.  The  music  is  of  a  higher  class,  but  it 
does  not  have  the  same  spiritual  force  and  feeling  that  attended  the 
congregational  singing  heard  at  the  old  camp  meetings  and  within 
the  sacred  walls  of  the  old  log  churches  at  Pisgah,  Concord  and 
elsewhere  in  the  county.  It  may  be  possible  that  the  churches  are 
becoming  materialized  at  the  expense  of  their  spirituality. 

EDUCATIONAL  CONDITIONS. 

At  that  time  there  was  one  thing,  that  historians,  generally, 
pronounce  as  absolutely  essential  to  the  welfare,  progress,  and 
civilization  of  a  state  or  community,  in  which  the  people  of  Taze- 
well were  deplorably  deficient.  They  had  accepted  and  made  prac- 
tical use  of  the  social,  political,  and  economic  doctrines  of  Thomas 
Jefferson;  but  had  neglected  to  follow  his  precepts  as  the  champion 
of  popular  education.  It  may  be  possible  that  the  isolation  of 
Tazewell  rendered  it  difficult  to  get  competent  and  sufficient  teachers 
to  give  instruction  to  the  large  number  of  children  then  in  the  county. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  cause,  it  is  a  fact  that  from  the  time 
the  county  was  organized  there  was  a  constant  increase  of  illiteracy 
among  the  inhabitants,  certainly  until  1852,  and,  possibly,  until  the 
present  free  school  system  was  established  by  the  State  Constitu- 
tion of  1870. 

The  entire  white  population  of  Tazewell  in  1852  was  8,832;  and 
there  were  1,490  white  persons  over  twenty-one  years  of  age  who 
could  neither  read  nor  write.  It  is  likely  that  there  were  nearly  as 
many  illiterate  whites  who  were  under  twenty-one  years  old  as 
there  were  above  that  age.  There  were  only  694  children  attending 
the  schools,  and  but  fifteen  school  houses  in  the  entire  county. 
Bickley  said  these  houses  were  better  suited  for  barns  than  seats 
of  learning. 

This  alarming  condition  of  illiteracy  aroused  the  serious  atten- 
tion of  the  Jeffersonville  Historical  Society,  whose  membership 
was  composed  of  about  a  hundred  of  the  most  influential  citizens 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


543 


of  the  county.  The  late  Major  Rufus  Brittain  was  then  an  accom- 
plished and  popular  teacher,  and  was  earnestly  engaged  in  educa- 
tional work  in  the  county.  At  the  request  of  the  Jeifersonville 
Historical  Society  he  prepared  a  paper  on  the  educational  situation, 
which  was  submitted  to  the  Historical  Society.  It  was  and  is  a  very 
valuable  paper,  and  is  as  follows : 

"This  cause,  so  important  to  the  best  interests  of  every  well- 
regulated  community,  has  not  heretofore,  in  this  section,  received 


High  School  Building  at  Tazewell.  It  is  very  different  in  appear- 
ance and  appointments  from  the  few  school  houses  scattered  over 
the  county  in  1852,  which  Bickley  said  were  better  suited  for  bams 
than  seats  of  learning. 

that  attention  it  deserves:  and  as  a  natural  consequence  of  this 
neglect,  we  find  the  county  sadly  deficient  in  the  means  of  training 
up  the  children  of  her  citizens  for  stations  of  honor  and  usefulness. 
"By  the  returns  of  the  last  census,  it  is  found  that  out  of  3,317 
persons  in  the  county  over  twenty-one  years  of  age,  1,490  are 
unable  to  read  and  write.  This  is  indeed  a  deplorable  picture  of 
the  intelligence  of  our  county,  and  might  well  cause  every  intelligent 
man  in  it  to  blush  with  shame,  were  it  not  that  we  find  some  excuse 
for  this  ignorance  when  we  consider  the  situation  of  the  greater 


544  History  of  Tazewell  County 

portion  of  our  population^  scattered  as  it  is  over  a  wide  extent  of 
country,  and  laboring  under  great  disadvantages  for  maintaining 
schools. 

"The  early  settlers  of  this  region  had  many  difficulties  to 
encounter  in  their  efforts  to  procure  homes  for  themselves  and  their 
children,  and  too  frequently  education  appears  to  have  been  of  but 
secondary  importance  in  their  estimation.  Yet  primary  schools 
of  some  sort  seem  to  have  been  maintained  from  an  early  date  after 
its  settlement,  in  those  neighborhoods  where  children  were  suffi- 
ciently numerous  to  make  up  a  school,  and  parents  were  able  and 
willing  to  support  a  teacher.  Instances,  also,  have  not  been  wanting, 
where  families  not  situated  so  as  to  unite  conveniently  with  others, 
yet  appreciating  the  advantages  of  a  good  school,  have  employed 
teachers  to  instruct  their  children  at  home,  and  thus  afforded  them 
privileges  of  which  the  children  of  their  less  enlightened  neighbors 
were  deprived.  But  of  late  years,  since  portions  of  the  county 
have  become  more  densely  populated,  and  in  various  ways  much 
improved,  the  cause  of  education  here  has  not  kept  pace  with  that 
improvement,  for  even  in  those  parts  of  the  county  best  able  to 
maintain  schools,  no  permanent  provision  has  been  made  for  their 
continuance;  and  in  those  schools  that  generally  have  been  best 
supported,  long  intervals  between  sessions  so  frequently  occur,  that 
pupils  forget  much  of  what  they  acquired  during  their  attendance ; 
and  thus  the  little  time  spent  by  many  in  scliool  is  spent  under  the 
greatest  disadvantage  for  the  proper  development  of  their  intel- 
lectual faculties.  Teachers,  as  might  be  supposed,  under  these 
circumstances,  together  with  the  fact  that  their  compensation  is 
usually  very  moderate,  are  often  incompetent  for  the  task  they 
have  assumed,  both  as  respects  talents  and  acquired  qualifications. 
And  though  under  these  circumstances  good  teachers  are  sometimes 
obtained,  yet  most  generally  in  such  cases  the  office  is  only  assumed 
as  an  available  stepping-stone  to  some  other  and  more  profitable 
pursuit.  Indeed,  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  expect  persons  to 
prepare  themselves  for  the  proper  discharge  of  the  onerous  duties 
of  a  primary  school  teacher,  unless  they  hoped  to  receive  some 
adequate  reward  for  their  services. 

"Now,  in  consideration  of  the  state  of  our  schools,  and  the 
deplorable  ignorance  in  which  the  children  of  our  county  are  in 
danger  of  growing  up,  it  must  be  evident  to  all  who  think  properly 
on  these  subjects,  that  we  need  to  adopt  and  carry  out  some  effi- 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


545 


cient  school  system,  by  means  of  wliicli,  our  scliools  shall  be  made 
more  permanent,  and  sufficient  inducements  be  held  out  to  command 
and  retain  the  services  of  competent  and  well  qualified  teachers: 
and  that  the  means  of  a  good  primary  education  be  brought  within 
the  reach  of  every  child  in  the  community,  and  for  those  who  desire 
it  and  excel  in  the  branches  taught  in  primary  schools,  that  oppor- 


Major  Rufus  Brittain,  was  not  a  native  of  Tazewell  County,  but 
came  there  when  he  M^as  a  very  young  man,  to  engage  in  educational 
work.  In  this  vocation  he  perfoiTned  eminent  service,  and  also  filled 
many  positions  of  tn;st  and  responsibility,  among  them  county  clerk 
and  county  treasurer.  He  served  in  the  Confederate  army  as  Adjutant 
of  the  29th  Regiment  Virginia  Infantry.  Major  Brittain  was  bom 
June  19th,  1822,' and  died  April  11th,  1899. 

tunities  be  afforded  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  higher  branches 
of  a  good  English  and  scientific  education. 

"These  important  objects,  our  schools,  as  now  conducted,  fail 
to  accomplish,  and  the  state  school-fund  for  the  education  of  indigent 
children,  is  in  a  great  measure  wasted,  as  by  its  regulations,  it  must 
depend  chiefly  on  the  schools  as  they  now  exist. 

"But  the  legislature  of  the  state  has  provided  a  Free  School 
System,  which  if  adopted  and  carried  out  with  proper  energy  and 
in  an  enlightened  manner,  these  noble  objects,  in  a  great  measure, 
might  be  attained.  In  order  to  its  adoption  the  law  requires  a  vote 
in  its  favor  of  two-thirds  of  the  legal  votes  of  the  adopting  district 
or  county.  Such  a  vote,  we  fear,  could  not  be  obtained  here,  until 
T.H.— 35 


546  History  of  Tazewell  County 

some  elfort  is  made  to  enlighten  our  citizens  on  the  subject  of 
education  and  schools  systems;  and  show  them  the  advantage  that 
would  accrue  to  themselves  and  their  children  by  having  the  latter 
furnished  with  the  proper  means  of  moral  and  intellectual  culture. 
There  would  also  be  a  variety  of  difficulties  to  encounter  in  the 
execution  of  this  Free  School  System.  In  some  portions  of  the 
county  the  population  is  quite  sparse,  and  a  sufficient  number  of 
children  could  not  be  included  within  a  convenient  school  district. 
This  difficulty,  however,  has  no  remedy  under  our  present  method 
of  keeping  up  the  schools,  unless  families  thus  isolated  are  able  to 
employ  teachers  to  instruct  their  children  at  home.  But  if  the 
schools  were  established  in  these  thinly-settled  districts,  by  taking 
in  boundaries  large  enough  to  furnish  a  sufficient  number  of  children 
to  each,  and  some  efforts  made  to  overcome  the  inconvenience  of 
a  distant  school,  by  conveying  the  children  to  and  from  school  in 
such  a  manner  as  could  best  be  provided:  the  mere  fact  of  a  good 
school  being  kept  up,  would  be  a  new  inducement  for  persons  to 
emigrate  to  those  districts,  and  in  a  few  years  the  population  would 
so  much  increase  that  a  school  could  be  made  up  within  convenient 
bounds.  This  system,  also,  being  chiefly  dependent  on  funds  raised 
for  its  support  by  taxation,  might  meet  with  great  opposition  from 
those  who  have  a  liigher  appreciation  of  the  value  of  money  than 
they  have  of  intelligence;  and,  again,  others  who  are  possessed  of 
large  amounts  of  taxable  property  and  few  or  no  children  to  send 
to  school,  may  think  it  oppressive,  unless  convinced  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  every  state  or  community  to  educate,  or  furnish  the  means 
to  educate,  the  children  of  its  citizens.  In  a  republican  government 
like  ours,  tlie  permanence  of  which  evidently  depends  on  the  virtue 
and  intelligence  of  its  citizens,  it  might  be  deemed  unnecessary  to 
demonstrate  the  importance  of  every  child  being  properly  instructed 
and  furnished  with  the  means  of  acquiring  that  knowledge  which 
will  fit  him  to  perform  the  duties  incumbent  on  a  citizen  of  a  free 
and  enlightened  country.  Yet  there  are  too  many  who  are  slow  to 
perceive  or  acknowledge  the  importance  of  good  schools,  and  the 
necessity  of  being  at  some  trouble  and  expense  to  keep  them  up. 
Hence  all  patriotic  and  intelligent  members  of  the  community  who 
have  tasted  the  blessings  of  an  education,  or  felt  the  want  of  one, 
should  co-operate  with  each  other,  and  use  their  influence  for  the 
improvement  of  our  schools,  and  the  increase  of  the  virtue  and 
intelligence  of  our  citizens." 


and  Southwest  Virginia  547 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  ORIGIN  AND  DESCENT  OF  TAZEWELL  COUNTY. 

Nearly  two  hundred  years  intervened  between  the  first  settle- 
ment at  Jamestown  and  the  erection  of  Tazewell  County  as  a  dis- 
tinct civil  organization.  And  it  was  more  than  a  hundred  years 
after  Captain  Newport  landed  the  colonists  on  the  banks  of  James 
River  before  any  definite  information  was  obtained  of  the  character 
of  the  extensive  region  that  belonged  to  Virginia  west  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  Mountains.  It  was  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  after  the 
settlement  was  made  at  Jamestown  before  Virginians  began  to 
explore  the  country  beyond  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  "on  the  waters 
of  the  Mississippi." 

A  detailed  synopsis  which  will  show  how  Tazewell  County  came 
into  existence  as  a  distinct  civil  community,  and  how  its  present 
geographical  lines  were  established,  will,  no  doubt,  be  instructive 
and  useful  to  many  persons.  The  territory  which  now  constitutes 
the  county  of  Tazewell  was  wijthin  the  geographical  lines  of  the 
charters  granted  by  James  I.  for  the  colonization  of  Virginia. 
Previous  to  the  year  1716  Virginians  who  lived  east  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  had  not  the  slightest  conception  of  the  extent  and  quality 
of  the  uninhabited  part  of  the  province  beyond  the  mountains.  The 
Trans-Alleghany  domain  remained  a  vast  unexplored,  mysterious 
region,  having  no  civil  or  military  connection  with  the  Colonial  Gov- 
ernment at  Williamsburg.  Governor  Spottswood's  expedition  to  the 
Shenandoah  Valley  in  1716  gave  the  first  partial  knowledge  to  Vir- 
ginians of  the  character  of  the  English  territory  beyond  the  Blue 
Ridge. 

The  first  attempt  to  bring  any  pai*t  of  the  vast  trans-montane 
region  under  the  Virginia  Colonial  Government  was  the  creation  of 
Spottsylvania  County,  by  an  act  passed  November  the  2nd,  1720. 
The  county  was  foi-med  from  the  counties  of  Essex,  King  William, 
and  King  and  Queen.  Its  boundaries  crossed  the  Blue  Ridge,  but 
took  in  only  a  part  of  the  Upper  Shenandoah  Valley.  Very  few 
settlers  moved  into  that  valley  while  a  section  of  it  was  a  part  of 
Spottsylvania. 

On  September,  20th.,  1734,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  act 
creating  Orange  Coimty.     It  was  formed  from  Spottsylvania;  and 


548  History  of  Tazewell  County 

not  only  took  in  a  part  of  Spottsylvania  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  but 
it  embraced  all  of  Virginia  west  of  that  mountain.  The  act  creating 
Orange  provided  that  its  Northern  and  Western  boundaries  should 
be  extended  to  "the  utmost  limits  of  Virginia."  This  made  the  terri- 
tory of  the  present  Tazewell  County  a  part  of  Orange  County. 

Four  years  after  the  formation  of  Orange,  the  Virginia  Govern- 
ment ascertained  that  a  number  of  people  had  availed  themselves  of 
the  very  liberal  provisions  of  tlie  act  which  created  that  county ;  and 
had  "settled  themselves  of  late  upon  the  rivers  of  Sherrando  (Shen- 
andoah), Cohongorton,  and  Opeckon,  and  the  branches  thereof,  on 
the  northwest  side  of  the  Blucridge  of  Mountains."  This  discovery 
induced  the  General  Assembly  to  pass  an  act  on  December,  15th, 
1738,  for  the  erection  of  two  new  counties  to  be  taken  from  Orange, 
and  to  comprise  all  the  territory  lying  west  and  northwest  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  These  two  new  counties  were  Frederick  and  Augusta. 
They  were  named  from  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  son  of  King 
George  II.,  and  father  of  George  III.,  and  his  wife.  Princess 
Augusta.  The  northern  line  of  Augusta,  embraced  the  present  Rock- 
ingham County,  and  part  of  Page ;  its  soutliern  boundary  was  the 
line  between  Virginia  and  Nortli  Carolina,  and  the  present  State 
of  Tennessee ;  and  its  western  and  northwestern  boundaries  extended 
to  the  utmost  limits  of  the  province  of  Virginia.  Though  Augusta 
was  created  by  the  General  Assembly  in  1738,  it  was  not  organized 
until  1745.  The  act  provided  that  it  should  remain  a  part  of 
Orange  County  until  the  Governor  and  Council  were  informed  there 
was  "a  sufficient  number  of  inhabitants  for  appointing  justices  of 
the  peace  and  other  officers,  and  erecting  courts  therein."  As  soon 
as  Augusta  County  was  organized,  what  is  now  Tazewell  County, 
and  all  of  Southwest  Virginia,  became  a  part  of  Augusta. 

The  General  Assembly  passed  an  act  on  the  28th,  of  November, 
1769,  for  the  division  of  Augusta  into  two  counties.  This  act 
declared:  "That  from  and  after  the  thirty-first  day  of  January 
next  ensuing,  the  said  county  and  parish  of  Augusta,  be  divided  into 
two  counties  and  parishes ;"  the  new  county  taken  from  Augusta 
was  named  Botetourt.  The  lines  between  Augusta  and  Botetourt 
began  at  the  Blue  Ridge  and  ran  north  fifty-five  degrees  west  to 
the  confluence  of  the  South  and  North  branches  of  James  River, 
which  point  is  in  the  present  county  of  Rockbridge.  From  that 
place  the  line  ran  up  the  south  branch  of  the  river  to  the  mouth  of 


and  Southwest  Virginia  549 

Carr's  Creek,  thence  up  that  creek  to  tlie  mountain,  and  thence  north 
fifty-five  degrees  west  "as  far  as  the  courts  of  the  two  counties 
shall  extend  it."  All  the  territory  south  and  west  of  this  line  was 
placed  in  Botetourt.  A  Commission  of  Peace  was  issued  by  the 
Governor  of  Virginia,  appointing  the  following  named  persons  jus- 
tices of  the  peace  for  Botetourt  County:  "Andrew  Lewis,  Richard 
Woods,  Robert  Brackenridge,  William  Preston,  John  Bowyer,  Israel 
Christian,  John  Maxwell,  James  Trimble,  Benjamin  Hawkins,  David 
Robinson,  William  P'leming,  George  Skillern,  and  Benjamin  Estell. 
On  the  13th  of  February  the  county  court  was  organized,  with 
Andrew  Lewis  presiding.  John  May  qualified  as  clerk  under  "a 
commission  from  Mr.  Secretarj^  Nelson,"  Richard  Woods  qualified 
as  sheriff  under  a  commission  from  the  Governor ;  and  James 
McDowell  and  James  McGavock  qualified  as  his  deputies.  William 
Preston  qualified  as  surveyor  under  a  commission  from  the  President 
and  Masters  of  William  and  Mary  College  and  the  seal  of  the 
College.  Preston  also  qualified  as  Escheator  under  a  commission 
from  the  Governor.  Tazewell  County  for  the  succeeding  two  years 
was  a  part  of  Botetourt  County.  Settlements  had  previously  been 
made  in  the  Upper  Clinch  Valley,  and  the  county  court  of  Botetourt 
at  its  May  term,  1770,  ordered  Anthony  Bledsoe  to  make  a  list  of 
the  tithables  in  the  Clinch  settlements.  The  settlers  on  the  Clinch 
and  the  Holston  then  had  to  go  to  Fincastle,  the  county  seat  of 
Botetourt,  to  attend  courts  and  perform  the  ordinary  duties  of 
citizenship.  At  the  Augaist  term,  1770,  of  the  county  court,  Rees 
Bowen,  from  the  Clinch,  and  Arthur  Campbell,  from  the  Holston 
settlements,  were  selected  by  the  litigants  to  arbitrate  a  suit  in  which 
Thomas  Baker  was  plaintiff  and  Israel  Christian  was  defendant. 
Bowen  and  Campbell  a  few  years  later  became  very  distingaiished 
as  citizens  and  soldiers.  Israel  Christian  was  a  justice  of  the  county 
court  and  donated  the  land  whereon  the  county  seat,  Fincastle,  is 
located. 

Responding  to  a  petition  of  the  inhabitants  who  lived  west  of 
New  River,  the  General  Assembly  on  the  8th  of  April,  1772,  passed 
an  act  for  dividing  Botetourt  into  two  counties.  The  new  county 
was  named  Fincastle,  and  the  county  seat  was  located  at  the  Lead 
Mines  in  the  present  Wythe  County.  Organization  of  the  county 
government  of  Fincastle  was  effected  on  the  5tli  day  of  January, 
1773.     All  the  territorv  west  of  New  River  and  south  of  tlie  Ohio, 


550  History  of  Tazewell  County 

including  Kentucky,  was  placed  in  the  bounds  of  the  new  county; 
and  the  present  Tazewell  County  became  a  part  of  Fincastle  County. 

About  three  years  after  the  organization  of  Fincastle  County, 
in  1776,  the  people  of  Virginia  revolted  against  Gx'eat  Britain,  and 
established  for  themselves  an  independent  government — the  Com- 
monwealth of  Virginia.  Shortly  afterwards,  the  inhabitants  of 
Kentucky  petitioned  the  General  Assembly  to  form  the  territory 
they  were  occupying  into  a  distinct  county.  Thereupon  the  inhabi- 
tants east  of  the  Cumberland  Mountains  addi*essed  petitions  to  the 
General  Assembly,  requesting  that  the  balance  of  Fincastle  County, 
lying  east  of  said  mountain,  be  divided  into  two  distinct  counties. 
In  answer  to  the  said  petition,  the  General  Assembly  on  December 
7th,  1776,  passed  an  act  which  divided  Fincastle  County  into  three 
counties,  to  be  named,  respectively,  Kentuek}',  Washington,  and 
Montgomery.  When  the  line  between  the  last  mentioned  counties 
was  run  a  part  of  the  territory  afterwards  erected  into  the  county 
of  Tazewell  was  put  in  Washington,  but  the  greater  part  was 
assigned  to  Montgomery. 

In  1785  the  inhabitants  of  that  part  of  Washington  County 
situated  west  and  north  of  the  Clinch  Mountain  petitioned  the 
General  Assembly  for  the  formation  of  a  new  county.  An  act  was 
passed  on  January  6th,  1786,  in  response  to  the  petition,  erecting 
a  county  which  was  named  Russell,  in  honor  of  General  William 
Russell,  the  pioneer  patriot.  The  southeastern  dividing  line  between 
Washing-ton  and  Russell  began  on  the  top  of  Clinch  Mountain, 
opposite  and  south  of  Morris'  Knob,  and  ran  along  the  said  moun- 
tain to  the  North  Carolina,  now  Tennessee,  line.  All  the  territory 
now  embraced  in  Lee,  Scott,  Wise,  Dickenson,  and  Russell,  and  part 
of  the  territory  of  Tazewell  and  Buchanan  counties  was  comprised 
in  the  original  boundaries  of  Russell  County.  Pursuant  to  the  act 
of  the  General  Assembly,  the  county  court  of  Russell  convened  at 
the  house  of  William  Roberson  in  Castle's  Woods,  on  May  9th, 
1786,  and  organized  the  county  government.  David  Ward,  one  of 
the  first  settlers  in  Tazewell,  was  one  of  the  justices  commissioned 
for  Russell  by  Patrick  Henry,  who  was  then  filling  a  second  term 
as  Governor  of  Virginia.  Captain  Ward  also  qualified  as  the  first 
sheriff  of  the  county.  Part  of  the  present  Tazewell  County  was 
then  within  the  limits  of  Russell  County. 

The    inhabitants    of    Montgomery    County    who    lived    west    of 


and  Southwest  Virginia  551 

New  River  sent  a  petition  to  the  General  Assembly,  in  1789,  asking 
that  a  new  county  be  erected  from  that  part  of  Montgomery  lying 
west  of  New  River.  On  December  1st,  1789,  an  act  was  passed 
for  dividing  the  county  of  Montgomery  into  two  counties.  And 
the  act  provided:  "That  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  May  next, 
all  that  part  of  tlie  county  of  Montgomery,  which  lies  southwest 
of  a  line  beginning  on  the  Henry  line,  at  the  head  of  Big  Reedy 
Island,  from  thence  to  the  wagon  ford  on  Peek  Creek,  thence  to 
Clover  Bottom  on  Bluestone,  thence  to  the  Kanawha  County  line, 
shall  be  a  distinct  county,  and  be  called  and  known  by  the  name 
of  Wythe." 

On  the  19th  of  December,  1799,  the  General  Assembly  passed 
an  act  creating  the  county  of  Tazewell,  to  be  formed  from  a  part 
of  Wythe,  and  a  part  of  Russell.  From  the  foregoing  synopsis  of 
the  processes  by  which  Tazewell  County  came  into  existence  it  is 
easy  to  trace  its  civil  descent  from  the  first  colony  planted  at  James- 
town.    The  following  is  the  line  of  descent: 

"The  Grand  Assemblie  Holden  at  James  City  the  21st  of 
August,  1633,"  passed  an  act  that  divided  the  Virginia  Colony 
into  eight  shires,  which  were  to  be  governed  as  the  shires  of  Eng- 
land, and  named  as  follows : 

"James  City  Warwick  River 

Henrico  Warrosquyoak 

Charles  City  Charles  River 

Elizabeth  City  Accawmack"" 

"The  Grand  Assemblie,  holden  at  James  Citty  the  2nd  of  March, 
1642-3"  passed  an  act  which  declared  in  part:  "It  is  likewise 
enacted  and  confirmed  that  Charles  River  shall  be  distinguished 
by  this  name  (County  of  York)."  This  meant  that  Charles  River 
Shire,  created  by  the  act  of  August  21st,  1633,  should  thereafter 
be  known  as  York  County,  and  in  this  manner  York  County  was 
created  in  164-3. 

New  Kent  County  was  formed  from  York  County  in  1654. 

King  and  Queen  County  was  formed  from  New  Kent  in  1691, 
the  third  year  of  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary. 

Essex  County  was  formed  from  a  part  of  (old)  Rappahannock 
in  1692.  "Old  Rappahannock"  having  previously  been  a  part  of 
York  County. 


552  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  the  two  counties^  King  and  Queen  and  EsseXj 
were  directly  descended  from  Charles  River  Shire. 

King  William  County  was  formed  from  King  and  Queen  County 
in  1701. 

Spottsylvania  was  formed  from  Essex.  King  and  Queen^  and 
King  William  in  1720. 

Orange  County  was  formed  from  Spottsylvania  in  1724. 

Augusta  County  was  formed  from  Orange  in  1738. 

Botetourt  County  was  formed  from  Augusta  in  1769. 

Fincastle  County  was  formed  from  Botetourt  in  1772. 

Washington  County  and  Montgomery  County  were  formed  from 
Fincastle  in  1776. 

Russell  County  was  formed  from  Washington  in  1786. 

Wj'the  County  was  formed  from  Montgomery  in  1789. 

Tazewell  County  was  formed  from  Wytlie  and  Russell  in  1799. 

By  and  through  the  foregoing  detailed  processes,  covering  a 
period  of  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  years,  the  great  county  of 
Tazewell  was  generated  from  the  first  permanent  English  settle- 
ment made  upon  the  North  American  Continent. 

CHANGKS  MADK   IN  THE  GEOGRAPHICAL   LINES  OF  TAZEWELL  COUNTY. 

After  the  formation  of  Tazewell  Count}',  in  1799,  various 
changes  were  made  in  its  geographical  lines  before  it  was  reduced 
to  its  present  limitations.  A  few  of  the  changes  were  caused  by 
accretions  to  the  original  limits,  but  most  of  the  alterations  were 
made  by  taking  from  the  county  large  areas  that  have  since  been 
disclosed  as  veritable  El  Dorados  of  mineral  wealth.  The  first 
change  that  was  made  in  the  boundary  lines  was  occasioned  by  the 
creation  of  Giles  County.  It  was  formed  from  the  counties  of 
Montgomery,  Monroe,  Tazewell,  and  Wythe,  by  an  act  passed 
January  16th,  1806.  This  eliminated  from  the  eastern  side  of 
Tazewell  County,  a  valuable  strip  of  territory  east  of  Rocky  Gap, 
which  extended  from  the  top  of  Brushy  Mountain  to  the  Kanawha 
County  line. 

On  the  20th  of  December,  1806,  the  General  Assembly  passed 
an  act  which  provided  for  taking  a  narrow  strip  from  Russell 
County,  and  attaching  it  to  Tazewell.  The  western  line  of  this 
boundary  has  been  given  in  a  preceding  chapter,  and  need  not  be 
restated. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  553 

The  General  Assembly  passed  an  act  on  the  12th  of  January, 
1821..  creating  Logan  County.  That  county  was  formed  from  Giles, 
Kanawha,  Cabell,  and  Tazewell,  and  was  named  from  Logan,  the 
great  Indian  chief.  The  territory  taken  from  Tazewell,  has,  in 
recent  years,  become  very  wealthy. 

A  very  considerable  and  valuable  addition  to  the  territory  of 
Tazewell  was  made  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  on  January 
4th,  1826.  This  act  placed  Poor  Valley  in  Tazewell.  When  I 
began  writing  the  history  of  the  county,  I  made  inquiry  of  county 
officers,  and  the  lawyers  at  Tazewell,  and  many  of  the  older  citizens, 
and  no  one  could  inform  me  how  Poor  Valley  became  a  part  of  the 
county.  I  searched  for  information  in  the  State  Library,  and 
found  the  following  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  as  above 
stated : 

"Whereas  it  is  represented  to  the  present  General  Assembly, 
by  sundry  inhabitants  of  the  counties  of  Washington  and  Wythe, 
that  in  consequence  of  the  great  distance  at  which  they  reside  from 
their  court  houses,  muster-fields,  and  other  public  places,  and  having 
in  going  thither  to  cross  three  large  mountains,  they  labour  under 
great  inconvenience  and  difficulty,  and  the  tract  of  country  in  which 
they  reside  being  very  thinly  inhabited,  and  not  likely  soon  to  be 
otherwise ;  wherefore, 

"I.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly,  That  all  that  part 
of  the  counties  of  Washington  and  Wythe,  known  by  the  name  of 
Poor  Valley,  and  within  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit:  "Begin- 
ning on  the  top  of  Clinch  Mountain,  at  the  highest  point  opposite 
the  plantation  of  Major  John  Ward;  thence  a  south  course  until 
it  strikes  the  top  of  little  Piney  jNIountain  in  the  county  of  Washing- 
ton, and  with  the  top  of  said  mountain,  running  east  to  Wilson's 
Gap  in  the  county  of  Wythe,  thence  a  north  course  until  it  inter- 
sects the  Tazewell  county  line,  shall  be  a  part  of  the  county  of 
Tazewell." 

On  January  9th,  1826,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  act 
which  took  from  Tazewell  a  small  boundary  of  territory  and  added 
it  to  Giles  Covmty. 

An  act  was  passed  on  March  12th.  1834.,  restoring  a  part  of 
Logan  County  to  Tazewell.  The  boundary  lines  of  the  restored 
section   were  as   follows:      "Beginning  at  the   Dry   fork   of  Sandy 


554  History  of  Tazewell  County 

river,  and  running  thence  a  northern  course  to  the  top  of  the  ridge 
dividing  the  waters  of  Guyandotte  and  Sandy  Rivers;  thence  along 
the  top  of  said  ridge  to  the  Flat  Top  Mountain  (so  as  to  include 
the  now   residence   of  James   Marshall)    to   the  line  of   Tazewell 
County,  where  it  corners  on  Logan  and  Giles  counties,  shall  be 
annexed  to  and  be  henceforth  a  part  of  the  county  of  Tazewell." 
By  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  passed  on  February  3rd, 
1835,  Tazewell  had  another  accretion  from  Russell  County.     The 
act  is  as  follows:     "I.     Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly, 
that  so  much  of  the  county  of  Russell  as  laj^s  next  to  and  adjoining 
the  county  of  Tazewell,  and  is  contained  in  the  following  boundary 
lines,  to   wit:   beginning  at  the  line   dividing  the   counties   on  the 
top  of  Kent's  ridge,  thence  a  straight  line  (crossing  Clinch  river  a 
short  distance  below  the  mouth  of  Mill  Creek)  to  the  forks  of  said 
creek,  thence  up  said  creek,  (the  north  branch  thereof)  to  the  top 
of  the  dividing  ridge  between  Sandy  and  Clinch  rivers,  leaving  the 
road  to  the  northeast,  thence  along  the  top  of  said  ridge  to  the 
ridge  of  mountains  dividing  tlie  Louisa  and  Russell  forks  of  Sandy 
river,  and  down  said  ridge  of  mountains  to  the  Kentucky  line,  shall 
be  annexed  to,  and  be  henceforth  a  part  of  the  county  of  Tazewell." 
On  March  18th,  1836,  another  small  boundary  was  taken  from 
Tazewell  and  added  to  Giles  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  and 
defined  as  follows:     "That  so  much  of  the  farm  formerly  owned  by 
Archibald  Burdett  (and  now  by  George  W.  Pearis)  containing  three 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  acres,  as  lies  within  the  county  of  Taze- 
well, shall  be  annexed  to  and  be  henceforth  a  part  of  the  county  of 
Giles."     This  farm  was  located  on  East  River. 

The  General  Assembly  by  an  act  passed  on  March  17th,  1837, 
formed  the  county  of  Mercer  from  the  counties  of  Giles  and  Taze- 
well. This  new  county  was  named  from  General  Hugh  Mercer, 
who  was  mortally  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Princeton,  January  3rd, 
1777.  He  was  one  of  the  splendid  heroes  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion, and  the  county  seat  of  Mercer  County  was  given  its  name  in 
commemoration  of  the  battle  in  which  General  Mercer  lost  his  life. 
The  act  of  the  General  Assembly  separated  from  Tazewell  County 
territory  that  has  since  been  developed  into  one  of  the  richest 
mineral  sections  of  the  North  American  Continent.  The  boundary 
lines  of  the  new  county  established  by  the  General  Assembly,  were 
as  follows: 


and  Southwest  Virginia  555 

"Beginning  at  the  mouth  o£  East  river  in  Giles  county  and  fol- 
lowing the  meanders  thereof  (East  River)  up  to  Toney's  mill  dam; 
thence  along  the  top  of  said  mountain  (East  River  Mountain)  to  a 
point  opposite  the  upper  end  of  the  old  plantation  of  Jesse  Belcher 
deceased,  thence  a  straight  line  to  Peerie's  mill  dam  near  the  mouth 
of  Alps  (Abbs)  Valley,  thence  to  a  point  well  known  by  the  name 
of  the  Pealed  Chestnuts;  thence  to  the  top  of  Flat  top  mountain; 
thence  along  said  mountain  with  the  lines  of  Logan,  Fayette  and 
Tazewell  counties  to  New  River,  thence  up  and  along  the  various 
meanderings  of  the  same  to  the  beginning." 

An  examination  of  the  act  creating  Mercer  County,  as  printed  in 
the  Acts  of  1836-1837,  reveals  the  fact  that  the  second  line  or  call, 
defining  the  boundaries,  was  omitted  from  the  printed  act.  This 
omission  was  rectified  by  an  act  passed  by  the  General  Assembly 
on  March  13th,  1847.  The  act  directed  that  this  omitted  line  be 
run  by  commissioners,  commencing  at  "Toney's  Mill  dam  and  run 
thence  a  direct  line  to  the  top  of  East  River  Mountain,"  and  thence 
for  the  residue  of  said  lines  as  prescribed  by  the  act  of  March  17th, 
1837.     The  omitted  line  was  duly  run  by  commissioners. 

There  were  no  further  alterations  in  the  outlines  of  Tazewell 
County  until  1858,  when  the  counties  of  Buchanan  and  McDowell 
were  formed.  On  February  13th,  1858,  the  General  Assembly 
passed  an  act  creating  Buchanan  County  to  be  formed  from  parts 
of  the  counties  of  Tazewell  and  Russell.  And  on  the  20th  of 
February,  1868,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  act  to  form  a  new 
county  out  of  a  part  of  the  county  of  Tazewell,  to  be  called  and 
known  by  the  name  of  the  county  of  McDowell. 

The  dividing  line  between  Tazewell  and  Buchanan  begins  at  a 
point  on  the  Dividing  Ridge,  about  eight  or  nine  miles  northwest 
of  the  village  of  Raven;  and  from  thence  runs  along  said  ridge  to 
Bear  Wallow.  And  the  dividing  line  between  Tazewell  and 
McDowell  starts  at  the  point  where  the  counties  of  Tazewell  and 
Buchanan  corner  at  Bear  Wallow.  Thence  the  line  runs  "east- 
wardly  along  the  ridge  between  Clinch  and  the  Dry  Fork  of  Sandy, 
to  a  place  called  the  "But  of  Belsher's  ridge;"  thence  a  straight 
line  to  the  mouth  of  Horse  Pen  Creek,  and  up  the  same  to  Jesse 
Doughtons,  and  up  the  left  hand  fork  of  said  Horse  Pen  Creek  to 
the  Low  Gap  in  Tug  Ridge;  thence  with  the  same  to  the  ridge 
between  Abb's  Valley  and  Sandy,  to  the  Mercer  line." 


556  History  of  Tazewell  County 

By  the  erection  of  these  two  new  counties,  Tazewell  had  to  part 
with  a  large  territory  that  abounded  with  vast  natural  resources. 
The  extent  of  the  area  assigned  to  Buchanan  County  is  about  300 
square  miles,  and  to  McDowell  about  533  square  miles.  The  territory 
given  to  both  counties  was  magiiificently  timbered  and  was  known 
to  have  bcneatli  its  surface  extensi\e  veins  of  coal.  These  natural 
resources  were  then  but  little  appreciated,  as  the  jiossibility  of 
making  them  available  to  the  markets  of  the  world  were  believed 
to  be  indefinite  and  remote. 

According  to  the  United  States  census  taken  in  18G0,  two  years 
after  Buchanan  was  formed,  the  county  had  a  population  of  2,793 
persons.  The  census  of  1910  made  the  population  of  the  county 
12,334<  souls.  The  taxable  values  of  Buchanan  County  in  1860 
amounted  to  the  small  sum  of  $301,506;  and  the  assessed  taxable 
values  in  1918  amounted  to  the  large  sum  of  $5,037,721. 

The  last  change  made  in  the  boundary  lines  of  Tazewell  County 
was  caused  by  the  establishment  of  Bland  County.  On  the  30th 
of  March,  1861,  eighteen  daA'S  before  Virginia  seceded  from  the 
Union,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  act  to  form  Bland  County 
from  the  counties  of  Giles,  Wythe  and  Tazewell.  The  dividing 
line  between  Tazwcll  and  Bland  began  at  the  top  of  East  River 
mountain  at  the  then  county  line  between  Giles  and  Tazewell ; 
"thence  with  the  top  of  said  East  River  mountain,  westward,  to  a 
point  two  miles  west  of  George  Steel's  house,  on  Clear  fork; 
thence  across  and  by  a  line  as  near  as  may  be  at  right  angles  to 
the  course  of  the  valley  between,  to  the  tojo  of  Rich  mountain,  and 
westward  along  the  top  of  said  Rich  mountain,  so  far  as  to  include 
the  settlement  on  Wolf  creek,  thence  across  the  top  Oi  Garden  moun- 
tain ;  thence  along  the  top  of  the  said  Garden  mountain,  to  a  point 
through  which  the  line  between  Wythe  and  Smyth  would  pass  if 
prolonged ;  thence  by  said  prolonged  line,  to  the  said  line  between 
Wythe  and  Smyth." 

This  left  Tazewell  County  with  its  present  physical  outlines, 
and  with  an  area  of  557  square  miles. 

tazewkll's  losses  almost  inestimable. 

What  Tazewell  has  lost  in  the  way  of  wealth  by  the  detachment 
of  territory  that  was  incorporated  in  the  bounds  of  the  present  coun- 
ties of  McDowell  and  Mercer,  West  Virginia,  is  almost  inestimable. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  557 

Each  year  that  has  passed  since  the  development  of  the  vast  mineral 
and  other  resources  of  these  two  counties  was  begun  has  served  to 
enlarge  the  measure  of  Tazewell's  loss;  and  the  extent  of  the  loss 
will  continue  to  be  augumented  for  manj^  j-ears  to  come. 

Of  the  territory  that  originally  constituted  Tazewell  County, 
that  which  has  made  the  most  marvelous  progress  in  wealth  and 
population  is  the  present  county  of  McDowell,  West  Virginia.  When 
McDowell  was  taken  from  Tazewell,  in  1858,  it  was  so  inaccessible 
and  unsuited  for  agricultural  purposes  that  it  was  not  deemed  a  loss, 
but  was,  possibly,  considered  a  social  and  economic  gain  for  the 
mother  county. 

McDowell  County  had  at  the  time  it  was  formed,  and  still  has, 
an  area  of  533  square  miles,  24  miles  less  than  the  present  area  of 
Tazewell  County.  In  1859  there  were  but  282  freeholders  in  the 
county,  and  only  about  one-third  of  the  land  was  placed  upon  the 
Land  Books  for  taxation  —the  remaining  two-thirds  being  unentered 
and  still  held  by  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia.  The  lands  held  by 
private  ownership  were  assessed  at  12  cents  per  acre,  and  the 
amount  added  for  buildings  on  all  the  privately  owned  land  was  the 
small  sum  of  $3,240,  making  the  total  assessed  value  of  the  lands 
and  buildings  $163,585.00.  The  taxes  collected  from  these  assess- 
ments amounted  to  the  meagre  sum  of  $654.38.  These  figures  have 
been  furnished  me  from  memorandums  found  in  the  clerk's  office  of 
McDowell  County.  The  records  in  the  State  Auditor's  Office,  at 
Richmond,  show  that  the  real  estate  values  returned  from  the  county 
in  1860  amounted  to  $93,190,  and  the  personal  property  to  $39,520 
— a  total  of  $132,710. 

That  the  wealth  of  McDowell  has  been  enormously  increased 
is  shown  by  the  following  tables  which  are  made  from  the  county 
records : 

Assessed  Values,   1918. 

Real     Estate $30,614,783.00 

Personal    Property 11,456,892.00 

Public   Utility   Property 12,344,692,78 

Total    $54,416,367.78 


558  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Taxes  Levied  for  all  Purposes  for  the  Year  1917  in 
McDowell  County. 

Real   Estate $432,936.00 

Personal    Property 152,903.00 

Public  Utility  Property 174,221.00 

Total  $760,060.00 

These  tables  show  that  the  increase  in  the  taxable  values  of 
McDowell  since  the  county  was  organized  amounted  to  the  astound- 
ing sum  of  $54,252,782.00.  They  further  show  that  the  taxes  paid 
in  the  county  in  1917  amounted  to  a  sum  six  times  as  great  as  the 
assessed  value  of  all  lands  and  buildings  in  McDowell  in  the  year 
1859. 

The  source  of  the  stupendous  growth  in  the  way  of  taxable 
wealth  and  population  of  McDowell  is  primarly  found  in  the  exten- 
sive mining  of  the  vast  deposits  of  coal  that  underlie  nearly  every 
acre  of  land  in  the  county.  There  are  a  number  of  coal  operations 
along  Tug  River,  which  stream  flows  through  the  county  from  its 
southern  to  its  northern  border.  Like  conditions  are  found  on  the 
Dry  Fork,  and  on  all  the  other  creeks  and  branches  that  are  trib- 
utaries of  Tug.  Enormous  quantities  of  coal  are  being  mined  and 
shipped  to  every  section  of  the  United  States.  The  coal  products  in 
1917  were:  18,671,942  tons  of  coal,  and  1,415,490  tons  of  coke — 
a  total  of  20,087,432  tons. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  extensive  mining  operations  have 
increased  the  population  of  the  county  in  proportion  to  its  wealth. 
The  census  of  1860  gave  McDowell  a  population  of  1,533 — all 
white  persons.  I  have  been  unable  to  procure  the  returns  from  the 
census  which  has  been  taken  this  year  by  the  Government,  but  it  is 
estimated  that  this  census  will  give  the  county  a  population  of  at 
least  90,000. 

Another  evidence  of  the  marvelous  progress  of  McDowell 
County  is  found  in  what  she  did  in  the  way  of  supplying  men  for 
the  service  during  the  late  horrible  war.  The  State  of  West  Vir- 
ginia, from  her  55  counties,  furnished  55,648  men  under  the  Select 
Service  Act;  and  McDowell  headed  the  list,  by  furnishing  3,081  men 
that  were  inducted  into  military  service  by  the  Local  Boards;  and, 
yet  the  county  had  no  large  cities  from  which  to  draw  the  men.  Of 
the  number   f-urnished,    1,578    were   white   men,    and    1,503    were 


and  Southwest  Virginia  559 

colored.  It  is  also  a  fact,  that  a  large  number  volunteered  and 
entered  the  service  through  various  recruiting  offices.  With  these 
added;  McDowell  gave  not  less  than  4,000  soldiers  to  the  Govern- 
ment for  service  in  the  late  war. 

McDowell  County  has  developed  into  a  splendid  industrial  com- 
munity, and  will  continue  to  progress  as  such  for  many  years  to 
come,  as  her  vast  mineral  resources  have  merely  reached  an  initial 
stage  of  development.  But  she  has  already  attained  sufficient 
industrial  standing  to  make  her  of  great  economic  value  to  Tazewell, 
her  mother  county. 


The  severance  from  Tazewell  of  that  portion  of  her  territory 
which  was  made  a  part  of  Mercer  County,  by  an  act  of  the  Virginia 
General  Assembly  in  1837,  has  also  proven  a  heavy  economic  loss 
to  the  mother  county.  All  of  the  present  area  of  Mercer  County 
situated  west  of  a  straight  line,  beginning  at  the  top  of  East  River 
Mountain  at  a  point  about  ten  miles  east  of  the  city  of  Bluefield, 
crossing  East  River  just  west  of  Ingleside,  thence  to  the  western 
limits  of  the  city  of  Princeton,  and  thence  to  the  northern  line  of 
Mercer,  was  comprised  in  the  original  boundaries  of  Tazewell 
County.  Within  this  area  as  great  industrial  activity  has  prevailed 
during  the  past  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  as  that  which  has 
wrought  such  astonishing  results  in  McDowell  County;  and  with 
like  results  in  the  way  of  accumulated  wealth  and  increased  popu- 
lation. 

The  celebrated  Flat  Top  coal  fields  are  located  upon  territory 
that  was  taken  from  Tazewell;  and  these  fields  were  the  next  to 
be  developed  after  the  mining  of  coal  was  commenced  at  Pocahontas. 
Bluefield,  the  magic  city  of  this  region,  is  also  situated  within  this 
area.  In  fact,  about  one-half  of  the  territory  of  the  present  Mercer 
County  was  taken  from  Tazewell  County,  and  this  has  made  the 
business  and  social  relations  between  these  two  counties  very  inti- 
mate ever  since  Mercer  was  erected  into  a  county. 

It  was  my  purpose  to  give  as  detailed  statement  of  the  progress 
made  by  Mercer  as  I  have  written  of  McDowell  County.  I  have 
gotten  repeated  promises  that  data  would  be  supplied  to  that  end, 
but  the  desired  information  has  not  been  given.      However,  I  do 


560  History  of  Tazewell  County 

know  that  there  has  been^  comparatively,  as  marvelous  increase  in 
the  wealth  and  population  of  Mercer  County  as  in  McDowell.  The 
assessed  values  of  all  property — real  estate,  personal  property, 
and  public  utility  property — in  Mercer  County  in  1918,  amounted  to 
the  sum  of  $41,650,020  This,  of  course,  includes  the  assessed 
values  of  the  cities  of  Bluefield  and  Princeton.  It  has  been  esti- 
mated that,  at  least,  $37,000,000  of  these  values  are  located  within 
the  territory  that  was  taken  from  Tazewell  and  given  to  Mercer. 

By  estimate,  the  city  of  Bluefield  has  about  15,000  inhabitants 
and  Princeton  about  8,000.  The  mining  towns  in  the  Flat  Top 
region,  and  those  that  are  scattered  along  the  Norfolk  and  Western, 
and  the  Virginian  Railway,  will,  no  doubt,  make  the  pojDulation  of 
Mercer  County  quite  as  large  as  that  of  McDowell. 

Bluefield  is  bountifully  supplied  with  banking  capital,  docs  a 
large  amount  of  business  in  the  mercantile  and  manufacturing  lines, 
is  rapidly  increasing  its  population,  and  is  constantly  extending  its 
improved  (building)  area  toward  the  line  which  separates  Tazewell 
County  from  West  Virginia.  In  fact,  the  improved  limits  of  Blue- 
field  and  those  of  Graham  (Tazewell's  largest  town)  are  now 
nearly  united,  and  may,  in  the  near  future,  be  called  the  "Twin- 
Cities."  Bluefield  is  not  only  the  metropolis  of  the  Pocahontas, 
Flat  Top,  and  Elkhorn  coal  fields,  but  occupies  the  same  relation 
to  Taxwell  County  and  the  entire  Upper  Clinch  Valley. 


War  and  Reconstruction  Period 


Detailing  the  Causes  of  the  Civil  War  and  What 
Transpired  from  1861  to  1870 


T.H.— 36 


WAR  AND  RECONSTRUCTION  PERIOD 


CHAPTER  I. 

PRINCIPAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 

The  Presidential  election  of  1860  marked  a  distinct  era  in  the 
political  thought  and  practices  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
As  early  as  1818  events  began  to  transpire  in  the  field  of  American 
politics  that  forced  the  reforming  of  political  parties  and  threatened 
to  disrupt  the  Union.  It  was  in  December,  1818,  that  the  "Mist- 
souri  Question,"  as  it  was  then  called,  made  its  appearance  through 
the  introduction  in  Congress  of  a  bill  for  the  admission  of  Missouri 
to  the  Union  as  a  slave  State.  While  Missouri  had  been  a  Territory, 
large  numbers  of  slaveholders  from  Southern  States  had  moved  into 
the  Territory  and  taken  their  slaves  with  them.  When  the  bill  for 
its  admission  to  the  Union  as  a  slave  State  came  before  the  House 
of  Representatives,  James  Tallmadge,  Jr.,  of  New  York,  moved 
to  amend  it  by  providing  that  "the  further  introduction  of  slavery 
be  prohibited  in  said  State  of  Missouri,  and  that  all  children 
(negroes)  born  in  the  State  after  its  admission  to  the  Union  shall 
be  free  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years."  The  discussion  of  the 
bill,  as  amended,  was  marked  with  great  ability  and  much  acrimony. 
Of  course,  the  members  from  the  South,  with  Henry  Clay  as  their 
leader,  were  violently  opposed  to  the  Tallmadge  amendment.  But 
the  ability  of  Mr.  Clay  and  the  stubborn  resistance  of  the  Southern 
members  could  not  stem  the  swelling  tide  of  anti-slavery  sentiment 
that  was  sweeping  over  the  North  and  Middle  West.  The  bill,  as 
amended  by  Tallmadge,  was  passed  by  the  House,  but  when  it 
went  to  the  Senate  the  anti-slavery  amendment  was  bitterly  opposed 
by  the  Southern  Senators,  and  the  amendment  was  rejected.  Then 
the  House  refused  to  recede;  and  for  a  time  Missouri  was  denied 
admission  to  the  Union. 

At  the  following  session  of  Congress,  in  December,  1819,  the 
Missouri  question  again  came  to  the  front,  when  a  bill  was  intro- 
duced to  admit  Maine  to  the  Union  as  a  free  State.  The  bill  for 
the  admission  of  Missouri  was  re-introduced  immediately  following 

[563] 


564  History  of  Tazewell  County 

the  introduction  of  the  Maine  bill.  This  aroused  another  fast  and 
furious  debate  between  the  pro-slavery  and  anti-slavery  member- 
ship of  the  House.  But  the  Missouri  bill  with  the  anti-slavery 
restriction  was  again  passed,  as  was  the  Maine  bill,  by  the  House. 
When  the  two  bills  went  to  the  Senate  that  body  refused  to  concur, 
and  a  single  bill,  uniting  Maine  and  Missouri  for  admission  to  the 
Union,  was  introduced.  Thereupon,  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  a  senator 
from  Illinois,  proposed  a  compromise  feature  to  the  bill,  which 
has  since  been  known  among  politicians  as  the  "Missouri  Compro- 
mise." This  compromise  provision  forever  prohibited  slavery  north 
of  36°  30'  in  all  the  territory  which  President  Jefferson  acquired 
from  France  in  1803  by  what  has  since  been  known,  and  shown 
on  the  maps,  as  the  Louisiana  Purchase.  It  was  passed  in  the 
Senate,  but  the  House  refused  to  admit  the  two  States  by  a  single 
bill.  The  compromise  feature,  however,  was  accepted  by  the  enact- 
ment by  the  House  of  separate  bills  for  the  admission  of  the  two 
States.  Missouri  then  made  a  Constitution  which  forbid  the  resi- 
dence of  free  negroes  in  the  State.  This  so  provoked  the  anti- 
slavery  members  of  Congress  that  they  refused  at  the  next  session 
to  admit  the  State.  After  a  prolonged  and  heated  discussion,  a 
compromise  was  efi'ected  by  writing  into  the  bill  a  provision,  "tliat 
Missouri  should  be  admitted  to  the  Union  upon  the  fundamental 
condition  that  no  law  should  ever  be  passed  by  her  Legislature 
enforcing  the  objectionable  provision  in  her  Constitution,  and  that 
by  a  solemn  public  act  the  State  should  declare  and  record  her 
assent  to  this  condition,  and  transmit  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States  an  authentic  copy  of  the  Act.  The  disciplinary  condition 
was  grudgingly  accepted,  and  Missouri  thus  secured  admission  to 
the  Union. 

Thomas  Jefferson  and  the  older  statesmen  then  living,  the  men 
who  had  helped  to  carry  the  colonies  successfully  through  the 
Revolution  and  establish  our  independence,  were  greatly  distressed 
and  alarmed  by  the  course  the  Missouri  question  had  taken.  The 
Compromise  had  established  a  geographical  line  between  the  free 
and  slave  States ;  and  they  believed  this  would  ultimately  generate' 
bitter  sectional  feeling  and  bring  disaster  to  the  Union,  in  these 
gloomy  apprehensions,  future  events  proved  they  were  not  mistaken. 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  then  living  in  retirement  at  a  venerable  age, 
but  was  still  in  possession  of  his  unsually  great  mental  faculties. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  565 

While  the  Compromise  measure  was  pending  in  Congress,  he  gave 
expression  to  his  fears  in  a  letter  he  wrote  to  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives.  He  said,  that  "the  Missouri  question 
is  tlie  most  portentous  one  which  has  ever  threatened  the  Union. 
In  the  gloomiest  hour  of  the  Revolutionary  War  I  never  had  any 
apprehensions  equal  to  those  which  I  feel  from  this  source." 

Following  the  admission  of  Missouri  to  the  Union  the  slavery 
question  for  a  while  ceased  to  be  a  disturbing  issue  in  the  politics  of 
the  country.  But  the  heated  controversies  in  Congress  over  the 
extension  of  slavery  had  compelled  a  complete  reconstruction  of 
political  parties.  The  Federalist  party,  because  of  the  avowed 
hostility  of  its  founders  to  popular  government,  had  steadily  disin- 
tegrated, and  in  1820  had  become  an  impotent  organization.  And 
the  Republican  party,  founded  by  Thomas  Jefferson,  after  his 
death  on  July  4th,  1826,  was  destroyed  as  an  effective  organization 
through  the  rivalries  and  jealousies  of  its  leaders.  Two  new, 
vigorous  organizations,  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties,  were  con- 
structed from  the  ruins  of  the  two  old  parties.  The  rank  and  file 
of  the  Whig  party  came  almost  entirely  from  the  Federalists  and 
the  anti-slavery  men  of  the  North  and  West,  while  the  Democratic 
party  was  composed  almost  entirely  of  the  followers  of  Thomas 
Jefferson.  Henry  Clay  had  been  a  nominal  adherent  of  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson, but  had  evinced  a  leaning  to  some  of  the  principles  of  the 
Federalists,  such  as  the  tariff,  suffrage,  and  finance.  This  caused 
him  to  unite  his  political  fortunes  with  the  Whigs  and  to  be  made 
the  most  brilliant  and  highly  esteemed  leader  of  that  party  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  June  29th,  1852.  Andrew  Jackson,  who 
had  been  all  the  while  a  zealous  disciple  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  naturally 
became  the  aggressive  leader  of  the  Democrats,  and  he  remained 
the  idol  of  his  party  until  the  day  of  his  death,  which  came  on  the 
8th  of  June,  1845. 

The  new  political  parties  had  their  first  contest  in  the  Presi- 
dential election  of  1828.  Andrew  Jackson  and  John  C.  Calhoun 
were  the  candidates  of  the  Democrats  for  President  and  Vice 
President ;  and  John  Quincy  Adams  and  Richard  Rush  were  the 
candidates  of  the  Whigs.  The  slavery  question  was  completely 
ignored  during  the  campaign  by  both  parties,  but  the  Whigs  pro- 
jected two  new  issues  of  such  absorbing  interest  that  all  other 
questions  were  cast  aside  in  what  was  one  of  the  most  memorable 


566  History  of  Tazewell  County 

political  struggles  that  has  ever  taken  place  in  the  United  States. 
The  Whigs  made  their  fight  on  what  they  termed  "Militarism/' 
and  "Disunion/'  charging  that  General  Jackson  would  turn  the 
Government  into  a  military  depotism,  if  he  was  made  President ; 
and  that  Calhoun  would  disrupt  the  Union,  if  he  was  given  the 
opportunity.  These  new  and  alarmist  issues  proved  unavailing 
for  the  Whigs.  General  Jackson  had  received  as  a  gift  from  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Jefferson  the  leadership  of  American  democracy,  and 
this  was  a  potent  influence  which  brought  victory  for  the  Demo- 
cratic ticket. 


In  1836  an  event  occurred  which,  a  few  years  later,  made  the 
slavery  question  a  more  alarming  issue  in  American  politics  than 
ever  before.  About  the  same  time  the  Missouri  question  was 
agitating  the  country  American  citizens  began  to  settle  in  that  part 
of  Texas  which  lies  west  of  the  Sabine  River.  This  part  of  Texas 
had  been  relinquished  to  Spain  by  treaty  when  she  ceded  Florida  to 
the  United  States.  Many  of  the  settlers  had  taken  slaves  with  them 
to  Texas;  and  by  the  year  1833,  eleven  years  after  Mexico  had 
become  an  independent  republic,  the  number  of  Americans  in  Texas 
had  reached  twenty  thousand.  They  determined  to  establish  for 
themselves  a  republic,  independent  of  Mexico.  To  promote  this 
scheme,  in  1035,  a  provisional  government  was  set  up;  and  General 
Sam  Houston  was  made  commander-in-chief  of  the  military  forces. 
Houston  drove  all  the  Mexicans  from  Texas.  General  Santa  Anna 
invaded  the  country  in  February,  1836,  and  invested  the  Alamo, 
the  old  Spanish  fort  near  San  Antonio,  which  was  held  by  a  small 
garrison  of  Texans  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Davy  Crockett. 
The  fort  was  stormed  by  the  Mexicans  and  all  the  garrison  butch- 
ered by  order  of  Santa  Anna.  Four  days  previous  to  the  bloody 
tragedy  at  the  Alamo,  the  Texans  held  a  convention  and  issued  a 
declaration  of  independence.  In  September,  1836,  General  Houston 
was  elected  President  of  the  Republic;  and  a  Congress  was  also 
elected  and  held  its  first  session  in  October,  1836. 

In  1837,  the  independence  of  the  "Lone  Star  State,"  as  it  was 
then  called,  was  recognized  by  the  United  States.  The  political 
leaders  in  Texas  then  began  to  advocate  annexation  of  the  State 
to  the  United  States.     This  scheme  was  bitterly  opposed  by  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  567 

anti-slavery  men  of  the  North  and  cordially  supported  by  the  slave- 
holders of  the  South.  But  the  leaders  of  both  the  great  National 
parties  studiously  avoided  making  the  Texas  question  an  issue  until 
1844,  when  it  became  the  supreme  issue  in  the  Presidential  election 

of  that  year. 

John  C.  Calhoun,  then  Secretary  of  State,  concluded  a  treaty 
of  annexation  with  Texas,  which  was  communicated  to  the  Senate 
by  President  Tyler  on  the  12th  of  April,  1844.  In  negotiating  the 
treaty,  Mr.  Calhoun's  purpose  was  to  defeat  Martin  Van  Buren, 
who  was  again  seeking  the  nomination  by  the  Democrats  for  the 
Presidency;  and  also  to  make  the  annexation  of  Texas  the  chief 
issue  between  the  two  National  parties. 

The  treaty  was  received  with  great  disfavor  by  the  Wliigs,  as 
Mr.  Clay,  who  was  their  leader  and  their  avowed  candidate  for 
the  Presidency,  had  declared  his  opposition  to  the  annexation  of 
Texas.  And  Mr.  Van  Buren's  supporters  also,  generally,  opposed 
it,  because  he  had  pronounced  against  annexation.  In  fact,  he  and 
Mr.  Clay,  believing  that  they  would  be  the  candidates  of  their 
respective  parties,  had  agreed  that  the  Texas  question  should  not 
be  inj  ected  into  the  campaign. 

When  the  National  Convention  of  the  Democratic  party  assem- 
bled at  Baltimore,  the  27th  of  May,  1844,  the  treaty  was  still 
pending  in  the  Senate.  Nothwithstanding  the  fact  that  a  majority 
of  the  delegates  on  the  first  ballot  voted  for  Van  Buren,  it  became 
impossible  to  nominate  him,  as  the  delegates  from  the  South  insisted 
upon  the  adoption  and  enforcement  of  the  two-thirds  rule  winch 
had  been  used  at  preceding  national  conventions  of  the  party.  The 
Southern  delegates  stood  for  James  K.  Polk,  of  Tennessee,  and 
secured  his  nomination;  and  the  ticket  was  completed  by  nominating 
George  M.  Dallas,  of  Pennsylvania,  for  Vice  President.  The  con- 
vention declared  for  the  annexation  of  Texas;  and  the  Democrats 
immediatelv  adopted  for  their  battle  cry:  "Polk,  Dallas,  and 
Texas,"  following  the  example  of  the  Whigs,  who  had  successfully 
waged  their   campaign   in    1840   with   the   cry:      "Tippecanoe   and 

Tyler  Too." 

The  Wliigs  had  held  their  National  Convention  at  Baltimore  on 
the  1st  of  May,  and  nominated  Henry  Clay  by  acclamation  for 
President;  and  had  chosen  Theodore  Frelinghuysen  as  their  candi- 
date for  Vice  President.    In  a  communication  written  from  Raleigh, 


568  History  of  Tazewell  County 

North  Carolina,  on  the  17th  of  April,  1814,  and  published  in  the 
National  Intelligencer,  then  a  Whig  organ,  Mr.  Clay  had  announced 
his  opposition  to  the  annexation  of  Texas.  He  gave  several  reasons 
for  opposing  the  treaty.  One  was,  that,  although  Texas  had  been 
a  part  of  the  territory  acquired  by  purchase  from  France,  our 
Government  had  parted  with  that  portion  of  the  territory  beyond 
the  Sabine  River,  by  the  treaty  with  Spain  in  1819;  and  that  the 
Sabine  line  had  been  recognized  and  accepted  by  the  United  States 
in  subsequent  negotions  with  Spain,  and  with  Mexico  after  that 
country  became  a  republic.  Mr.  Clay  did  not  think  it  would  be 
honorable  and  just  for  us  to  regard  our  treaty  with  Spain  as  a 
mere  "scrap  of  paper,"  though  he  had  heartily  opposed  its  ratifica- 
tion by  Congress.  Another  reason  he  assigned  for  his  opposi- 
tion was  that:  "Annexation  and  war  with  Mexico  are  identical." 
He  declared:  "Assuming  that  the  annexation  of  Texas  is  war 
with  Mexico,  is  it  competent  to  the  treaty-making  power  to  plunge 
this  country  into  war,  not  only  without  the  concurrence  of,  but 
without  deigning  to  consult  Congress,  to  which,  by  the  constitution, 
belongs  exclusively  the  power  of  declaring  war?" 

By  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Polk  the  Democrats  had  forced  the 
Whigs  to  accept  the  Texas  question  as  the  paramount  issue  of  the 
Presidential  campaign,  and  which  Mr.  Clay's  Raleigh  letter  had 
invited  them  to  do.  But  the  Democrats  shrewdly  determined  to 
strengthen  their  position  by  coupling  the  Oregon  question  with  that 
of  the  annexation  of  Texas.  Great  Britain  was  then  secretly  form- 
ing plans  to  wrest  Oregon  from  the  United  States  upon  a  fictitious 
claim  to  the  splendid  territory  which  now  constitutes  the  two  great 
States  of  Oregon  and  Washington.  Our  old  enemy.  Great  Britain, 
also  had  her  agents  actively  and  offensively  at  work  in  Texas  to 
prevent  the  Lone  Star  State  becoming  a  member  of  the  Union.  Thus 
was  General  Jackson  given  excellent  opportunity  to  hurl  one  of  his 
terrible  javelins  at  his  personal  and  political  foe,  Mr.  Clay;  and  to 
assail  the  integrity  of  the  British  Government,  which  he  cordially 
despised  for  its  treacherous  conduct  in  Texas  and  its  avowed  pur- 
pose to  steal  Oregon  from  the  United  States.  The  old  hero  of 
the  Democracy  did  his  work  effectively  through  a  letter  written 
from  the  Hermitage,  June  24th,  1844,  to  a  friend  in  Indiana.  In 
the  letter,  he  first  attacked  Mr.  Clay's  views  on  the  national  bank, 
system  of  taxation,  and  other  questions;  and  then  assailed  his  posi- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  569 

tion  on  the  Texas  question,  as  follows:  "He  says,  virtually,  that 
Texas  ought  not  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union,  while  there  is  a 
respectable  and  considerable  portion  of  our  citizens  opposed  to  it. 
On  such  a  condition  it  is  obvious  annexation  can  never  take  place. 
British  influence  had  considerable  and  respectable  advocates  in 
this  country  in  our  Revolutionary  War,  and  our  second  war  with 
her.  Will  it  ever  be  without  them?  Never.  As  long  as  there  are 
fanatics  in  religion,  as  there  are  diversities  and  differences  in  human 
opinion  respecting  the  forms  of  government  and  the  rights  of  the 
people,  such  advocacy  will  be  found  resisting  the  advance  of  insti- 
tutions like  ours,  and  laboring  to  incorporate  with  them  the  features 
of  an  opposite  system. 

"Who  does  not  see  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  are 
competitors  with  the  people  of  England  in  the  manufacturing  arts, 
and  in  the  carrying  trade  of  the  world?  And  that  the  question  is 
soon  to  be,  if  it  be  not  already,  whether  Texas  and  Oregon  are  to 
be  considered  as  auxiliaries  to  American  or  British  interests? 
Whether  these  vast  and  fertile  regions  are  to  be  settled  by  our 
posterity,  blessed  by  republican  government — or  are  to  become  the 
theatre  of  British  enterprise,  and  thus  add  another  link  to  the  vast 
colonial  claim  by  which  that  great  monarchy  upholds  its  lords  and 
nobles,  and  extracts   from  suffering  millions  the  earnings  of  their 

labor  ? 

*     *     *     *     * 

"The  American  people  cannot  be  deceived  in  this  manner.  They 
know  that  the  real  object  of  England  is  to  check  the  prosperity  of 
the  United  States — and  lessen  their  power  to  compete  with  England 
as  a  naval  power,  and  as  a  growing  agricultural,  manufacturing 
and  commercial  country.  They  know  that  Lord  Aberdeen,  in  the 
midst  of  thousands  and  thousands  of  starving  subjects  of  the  British 
monarchy,  is  more  anxious,  or  ought  to  be,  to  relieve  the  wants  of 
those  wretched  people  than  he  can  be  to  alter  the  relation  subsisting 
between  the  white  and  black  races  of  this  country." 

General  Jackson  closed  the  letter  with  an  appeal  to  the  American 
people  to  not  "let  slip  the  opportunity  now  offered  of  concentrating 
their  Union,  and  j^romoting  the  general  causes  of  their  prosperity 
and  happiness,  by  the  annexation  of  Texas." 

The  views  of  General  Jackson,  as  set  forth  in  this  letter,  were 
promulgated  throughout  the  Union  as  quickly  as  possible  by  Mr. 


570  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Polk's  party  managers;  and,  possibly,  it  did  more  to  secure  success 
for  Polk  and  Dallas  than  any  other  one  thing  that  transpired  in  the 
campaign.  It  gave  fresh  impulse  to  the  already  aggressive  policy 
of  the  Democatic  party  for  territorial  acquisition,  a  policy  which 
had  always  been  popular  with  the  American  people,  and  all  peoples 
who  have  a  strain  of  Anglo-Saxon  blood  in  their  veins.  It  also 
aroused  enthusiasm  in  the  young  men  of  adventurous  and  daring 
spirit,  who  were  eager  to  see  something  of  "grim  visaged  war." 

For  the  first  time  in  his  political  life,  Mr.  Clay  had  placed  himr 
self  on  the  hesitating  or  timid  side  of  any  grave  question  that  had 
arisen  in  the  politics  of  the  country.  He  had  enthusiastically 
advocated  war  with  Great  Britain  in  1812 ;  had  ardently  opposed  the 
treaty  of  1819  which  ceded  to  Spain  all  tliat  portion  of  Texas  west 
of  the  Sabine  River;  and  had  stubbornly  resisted  the  efforts  of  the 
Abolitionists  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  slavery  into  the  territory 
acquired  by  the  Louisiana  Purchase. 

The  great  Whig  leader,  being  put  upon  tlie  defensive,  and 
believing  that  he  was  losing  favor  with  the  pro-slavery  Southern 
Whigs,  because  of  his  pronounced  hostility  to  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  was  induced  to  modify  his  position  on  the  Texas  question. 
This  was  accomplished  through  a  letter  Mr.  Clay  wrote  to  Stephen 
Miller,  editor  of  the  Tuscaloosa  (Ala.)  Monitor,  in  which  he  said: 
"Personally  I  could  have  no  objection  to  the  annexation  of  Texas; 
but  I  certainly  would  be  unwilling  to  see  the  existing  Union  dis- 
solved or  seriously  jeopordized  for  the  sake  of  acquiring  Texas." 
But  in  the  letter,  Mr.  Clay  spoke  of  the  treaty  for  the  annexation 
of  Texas  as  "Mr.  Tyler's  abominable  treaty."  The  letter  was  used 
with  telling  effect  by  the  Democrats,  who  designated  it  Mr.  Clay's 
"Death  Warrant."  They  insisted  that  Mr.  Clay  was  playing 
double,  that  he  was  pandering  to  the  Abolition  sentiment  at  the 
North  by  expressing  opposition  to  the  Texas  treaty,  and  was  curry- 
ing favor  with  the  slaveholders  in  the  South  by  proclaiming  that 
he  was  "personally"  friendly  to  annexation. 

Apparently,  it  had  been  the  desire  and  purpose  of  both  the 
parties  to  eliminate  the  slavery  question  from  the  campaign,  as 
each  of  them  had  many  friends  at  the  North  who  were  earnestly 
opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery.  Mr.  Clay's  letter  to  Miller 
completely  wrecked  the  intentions  of  the  Whigs  and  the  Democrats 
on  that  line. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  571 

Tliere  was  another  concurrent  circumstance  that  made  slavery 
a  very  eventful  issue  in  the  future  politics  of  the  United  States. 
The  Abolitionists  had  nominated  James  G.  Birney,  of  Michigan,  as 
their  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  In  the  Presidential  campaign 
of  1840  Birney  had  been  the  candidate  of  the  Abolitionists,  who 
posed  as  the  "Liberty  Party."  At  the  election  in  1840  he  received 
only  6,475  votes;  but  at  the  election  of  1844  his  vote  was  swelled 
to  62,127.  Birney's  followers  in  the  election  of  1844  were  the 
rudiments  from  which  the  great  Republican  Party  was  developed; 
and  that  sixteen  years  later.,  imder  the  guidance  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, gained  control  of  the  Nation  and  preserved  the  Union. 

No  more  exciting  political  contest  has  ever  been  witnessed  in 
the  United  States.  More  than  two  and  a  half  million  American 
citizens  voted  at  the  election.  Of  these,  James  K.  Polk  received 
the  suffrage  of  1,336,196;  Henry  Clay,  1,297,912;  and  James  G. 
Birney,  62,127,  giving  Polk  a  plurality  of  38,284  over  Clay.  The 
popular  vote  of  South  Carolina  was  not  included  in  the  foregoing, 
as  the  electors  from  that  State  were  chosen  by  the  Legislature. 
There  were  twenty-six  States  in  the  Union,  with  an  aggregate  of  275 
electoral  votes.  Of  these,  170  were  cast  for  James  K.  Polk  and  105 
for  Henry  Clay,  which  gave  Mr.  Polk  a  majority  of  70  in  the 
electoral  college.  Polk's  election  was  conceded  to  be  a  verdict  of 
the  people  for  the  annexation  of  Texas.  At  the  following  session  of 
Congress  annexation  was  accomplished  by  a  joint  resolution,  which 
was  signed  by  President  Tyler  on  the  1st  of  March,  1345,  three 
days  before  the  inauguration  of  President  Polk. 


The  assertion  of  Mr.  Clay,  in  his  letter  written  at  Raleigh,  that 
"Annexation  and  war  with  Mexico  are  identical,"  was  reduced  to  a 
certainty  two  years  after  its  utterance.  During  the  winter  of  1845- 
46  General  Zachary  Taylor  was  in  command  of  the  United  States 
army  that  had  been  sent  to  Texas  as  an  army  of  occupation.  He 
was  ordered  to  move  westward  and  take  a  position  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Rio  Grande;  and  on  the  28th  of  March,  1846,  he  arrived  at 
that  river  and  went  into  camp  opposite  Matamoras.  On  the  22nd 
of  April,  General  Ampudia,  who  was  in  command  of  the  Mexican 
forces  at  Matamoras,  notified  General  Taylor  that  he  should  break 
camp  and  march  his  army  eastward  beyond  the  Neuces  River,  that 


572  History  of  Tazewell  County 

stream  being  claimed  as  an  agreed  boundary  line  between  Mexico 
and  Texas.  General  Taylor  promptly  refused  to  comply  with  the 
demands  of  the  Mexican  general ;  and  on  the  24th  of  April,  General 
Arista,  who  had  taken  command  of  the  Mexican  army,  informed 
General  Taylor  that,  "he  considered  hostilities  commenced  and 
should  prosecute  them."  Immediately  following  the  notification, 
General  Taylor  sent  a  detachment  of  sixty  dragoons — officers  and 
men — up  the  river  as  a  scouting  party,  to  ascertain  if  the  Mexicans 
had  crossed  or  were  crossing  the  Rio  Grande  into  Texas.  The 
American  party  came  in  contact  with  a  large  force  of  Mexicans, 
seventeen  of  the  Americans  were  killed  and  wounded,  and  the  bal- 
ance captured.  Thus  began  the  war  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico. 

On  the  11th  of  May,  1846,  President  Polk  sent  a  message  to 
Congress  "invoking  its  jDrompt  action  to  recognize  the  existence  of 
war"  and  to  place  at  the  disposition  of  the  Executive  the  means  of 
prosecuting  the  contest  with  vigor,  and  thus  hastening  the  restora- 
tion of  peace.  After  the  message  was  read  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, a  bill  was  promptly  introduced  by  an  Administration 
sujjporter,  declaring  that  "war  existed  by  the  act  of  Mexico,"  and 
giving  authority  to  the  President  to  call  out  and  organize  an  army 
of  fifty  thousand  men,  and  to  supply  them  with  all  necessary 
equipments.  The  assertion  in  the  preamble  of  the  bill,  that  "war 
existed  with  Mexico,"  provoked  a  heated  discussion  of  the  measure 
by  the  Whig  members  of  the  House.  They  were  reluctant  to  plunge 
the  country  into  war  with  our  neighbor  republic  upon  the  doubtful 
pretext  that  "our  country  had  been  invaded  and  American  blood 
spilled  on  American  soil."  After  a  very  brief  debate  a  vote  was 
forced  on  the  measure;  but  fourteen  members  of  the  House  had  the 
courage  to  vote  against  the  bill. 

Very  soon  after  the  declaration  of  war,  agitation  of  the  slavery 
question  again  assumed  alarming  proportions.  From  the  commence- 
ment of  hostilities  with  Mexico,  the  Whigs  and  Free-Soilers  of  the 
North  had  claimed  that  the  war  was  being  prosecuted  to  acquire 
territory  into  which  slavery  could  be  extended.  This  charge  was 
reasserted  when  the  President,  three  months  after  the  formal 
declaration  of  war,  sent  a  message  to  the  Congress,  suggesting 
that  the  chief  obstacle  to  be  surmounted  in  securing  peace  would  be 
the  adjustment  of  a  boundary  that   would  prove  satisfactory  and 


and  Southwest  Virginia  573 

convenient  to  both  republics.  The  President  conceded  that  we 
ought  to  give  Mexico  a  just  compensation  for  any  territory  she 
would  be  forced  to  cede  to  the  United  States  as  a  result  of  the 
war.  And  he  requested  Congress  to  appropriate  two  millions  of 
dollars  to  be  "applied  under  the  direction  of  the  President  to  any 
extraordinary  expenses  which  may  be  incurred  in  our  foreign  intei*- 
course." 

When  the  bill  was  receiving  verj'  harsh  criticism  from  the  Whigs 
and  anti-slavery  men  in  the  House,  David  Wilmot,  of  Pennsylvania, 
who  was  then  serving  his  first  term  in  Congress  as  a  Democrat, 
offered,  on  August  8th,  18K>,  an  amendment  providing  "that  as  an 
express  and  fundamental  condition  to  the  acquisition  of  any  terri- 
tory from  the  republic  of  Mexico  by  the  United  States,  neither 
slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  shall  exist  in  any  part  of  said 
territory."  This  amendment  has  ever  since  been  called  the  "Wilmot 
Proviso ;"  and  it  not  only  became  an  issue  in  the  Congressional 
campaign  then  in  progress,  but  was  made  the  basis  of  the  Free- 
Soilers'  campaign  in  the  Presidential  election  of  1848. 

The  two  million  dollar  bill  was  finally  passed  by  the  House, 
but  failed  of  final  action  in  the  Senate  by  a  filibuster  which  was 
lead  by  John  Davis,  a  Senator  from  Massachusetts.  At  the  next 
session  of  Congress  the  two  million  dollar  bill  was  enlarged  to 
three  millions ;  and  the  Administration  had  gained  sufficient  strength 
in  both  Houses  to  secure  the  passage  of  the  bill  without  the  proviso 
being  attached.  Though  the  Administration  had  gained  a  notable 
victory  in  securing  the  passage  of  the  appropriation  bill  free  of 
the  Wilmot  amendment,  the  Democrats  had  met  a  disaster  in  the 
Congressional  elections  the  preceding  fall,  when  a  new  Congress 
was  elected.  At  that  election  the  Whigs  and  Free-Soilers  had  won 
a  majority  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  it  was  certain 
that  the  Southern  Democrats  would  be  blocked  in  any  effort  to 
extend  slavery  into  territory  acquired  from  Mexico. 

The  new  Congress  met  in  December,  1847,  and  Robert  C. 
W^inthrop,  of  Massachusetts,  was  made  Speaker  of  the  House  by 
the  Whigs.  Mr.  Winthrop  had  earnestly  supported  the  Wilmot 
Proviso  in  the  preceding  Congress,  and  it  was  thought  his  election 
for  Speaker  would  provoke  renewed  agitation  of  the  slavery  quesr- 
tion.  But  the  Whig  leaders  were  laying  their  plans  to  elect  the 
President   in    1848,   and   very  wisely   avoided  the   introduction   of 


574  History  of  Tazewell  County 

the  slavery  question   into  the  proceedings   of  that  session.      The 
Democrats  were  alarmed  by  the  success  of  the  Whigs  at  the  election 
the  previous  fall,  and  they,  too,  remained  quiet.     Both  parties  were 
then  looking  for  their  Presidental  candidates  for  the  approaching 
election.     Remembering  that  the  only  success  they  had  achieved 
at  a  Presidential  election  since  the  organization  of  their  party  was 
with  a  military  hero  for  their  candidate,  the  Whigs  resolved  to  win 
victory  in  1848  with  a  similar  standard  bearer.     General  Zachary 
Taylor  had  made  a  great  reputation  in  the  war  with  Mexico,  where, 
by  winning  a  series  of  victories  from  Mexican  generals  and  against 
enormous  odds,  his  soldiers  had  bestowed  upon  him  the  name  "Old 
Rough  and  Ready."    He  was  a  Whig  in  politics,  was  a  slaveholder, 
but  had  not  voted  for  fort}'^  years,  owing  to  the  fact  that  he  had  for 
all  that  time  been  an  officer  in  the  United  States  army.     Mr.  Clay 
was  eager  to  be  made  the  candidate  of  his  party  again,  but  the  Whigs 
nominated  General  Taylor  for  President  and  Millard  Fillmore  for 
Vice  President,  and  declined  to  make  a  platform  for  their  candi- 
dates.     They   thus   sought   to   avoid   taking   sides   with   eitlier   the 
anti-slavery  men  of  the   North,  or  the  pro-slavery  Whigs  of  the 
South.     When  sneered  at  by  the  Democrats  for  failure  to  promul- 
gate a  platform  of  principles,  the  Whigs  would  declare:      "The 
Whig  platform   is    well   kno\vn   and   immutable.      It   is   the   broad 
platform  of  the  Constitution,  with  the  acknowledged  right  of  the 
people  to  do  or  to  demand  anything  authorized  by  that  instrument, 
and  denying  the  powers  of  our  rulers  to  do  anything  in  violation 
of  its  provisions."     With  this  exalted  declaration,  the  Whigs  prose- 
cuted with  much  vigor  what  they  called  a  "Star  and  Stripe"  canvass. 
■    The  Democratic  party  at  the  North,  especially  in  New  York,  had 
become  seriously  disorganized  by  factional  fights.     Mr.  Van  Buren 
remained  sore  and  resentful  toward  the  Southern  Democrats   for 
procuring  his  defeat  for  the  nomination  in   1844.     The  party  in 
New   York   had   been   divided   into   two   bitterly   hostile    factions. 
One  faction  bore  the  name  "Hunkers,"  were  adherents  of  President 
Polk,  and  were  led  by  William  L.  Marcy,  then  Secretary  of  War. 
The  other  was  called  "Barnburners,"  were  followers  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren,  and  were  under  the  leadership  of  Governor  Silas  Wright. 
In   fact,  the   Hunkers   represented  the   pro-slavery  wing,  and  the 
Barnburners  the  anti-slavery  wing  of  the  Democratic  party;  and 
were  products  of  the  quarrel  provoked  by  the  annexation  of  Texias. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  575 

When  the  National  Convention  of  the  party  met  at  Baltimore  the 
State  of  New  York  had  two  full  delegations  present,  one  composed 
of  Hunkers  and  the  other  of  Barnburners,  each  delegation  claiming 
the  right  to  sit  in  the  convention  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other.  The 
National  Convention  attempted  to  heal  the  breach  in  the  party 
by  the  usual  method  of  admitting  both  delegations,  with  power  to 
jointly  cast  the  vote  of  the  State.  But  the  Barnburners  would  net 
accede  to  the  compromise  and  left  the  convention.  The  Hunkers 
wisely  concluded  that  it  would  be  expedient  for  them  to  take  no 
part  in  the  proceedings,  and  refrained  from  casting  the  vote  of 
New  York  State.  The  convention  nominated  General  Lewis  Cass, 
of  Michigan,  for  President,  and  William  O.  Butler,  of  Kentucky, 
for  Vice  President.  On  the  22nd  of  Jime,  1848,  the  Barnburners 
held  a  National  Convention  at  Utica,  New  York,  and  nominated 
Martin  Van  Buren  for  the  Presidency,  and  Charles  Francis  Adams, 
of  Massachusetts,  for  the  Vice  Presidency.  This  Free-soil  move^ 
ment  forced  the  slavery  question  into  the  campaign,  regardless  of 
the  wishes  of  both  Whigs  and  Democrats  to  keep  it  out.  The  Whigs 
again  won  the  Presidency  with  a  hero  candidate,  but  their  victory 
was  the  forerunner  of  an  early  dissolution  of  Henry  Clay's  great 
party.  

The  war  with  Mexico  had  been  brought  to  a  successful  con- 
clusion by  the  Americans;  and  on  the  2nd  of  February,  1848,  a 
treaty  of  peace  had  been  negotiated  between  the  United  States  and 
the  Republic  of  Mexico.  By  this  treaty  the  extensive  territory 
then  known  as  New  Mexico  and  Upper  California  was  ceded  to  the 
United  States;  and  it  precipitated  a  struggle  between  the  anti- 
slavery  and  pro-slavery  advocates  for  control  of  the  new  territory. 
Previous  to  the  making  of  the  treaty  an  animated  controversy,  involv- 
ing the  slavery  question,  had  been  going  on  in  Congress  over  the 
territorial  organization  of  Oregon.  The  leaders  of  both  National 
parties  were  anxious  to  eliminate  the  slavery  question  from  the 
approaching  Presidential  campaign;  and  they  thought  this  could  be 
done  by  a  compromise  measure.  Accordingly  the  matter  was 
referred  to  a  committee  of  eight  members  of  the  United  States 
Senate,  which  committee  was  representative  of  every  sectional 
interest  involved.  A  Compromise  bill  was  finally  adopted  and 
signed  by  the  President  on  the   12th  of  August,   1848.     The  bill 


576  History  of  Tazewell  County 

provided  that  the  Legislature  of  Oregon  Territory  should  enact 
laws  in  conformity  with  the  wishes  of  the  people  on  the  question  of 
slavery.  As  its  people  had  already  pronounced  against  the  intro- 
duction of  slavery,  Oregon,  necessarily,  became  a  free  Territory. 
As  to  New  Mexico  and  California,  the  bill  gave  to  the  governors 
and  judges  of  those  two  Territories  the  power  to  make  such  legis- 
lation as  was  needed  for  their  temporary  government ;  but  restrain- 
ing them  from  passing  any  laws  on  the  subject  of  slavery;  and 
vesting  authority  in  the  Supreme  Court  to  determine,  if  called  upon 
to  do  so,  whether  slaveholders  could  settle  in  either  of  the  Terri- 
tories with  their  slaves  while  the  temporary  governments  were  in 
existence. 

When  this  compromise  measure  was  adopted  no  one  anticipated 
that  California  would  soon  be  seeking  admission  to  the  Union  as  a 
full-fledged  State.  On  January  19th,  1848,  gold  was  discovered  in 
such  quantities  at  Sutter's  Mill,  near  Coloma,  that  emigration  to 
California  on  a  large  scale  quickly  ensued.  Most  of  the  gold- 
seekers  arrived  in  the  early  part  of  1849,  and  by  the  end  of  that 
year  the  population  of  the  Territory  exceeded  100,000.  The  people 
held  a  convention  on  the  3rd  of  September  and  framed  a  constitu- 
tion, in  which  there  was  a  provision  that  prohibited  slavery  in  the 
State.  A  State  government  was  organized,  and  a  petition  was  sent 
to  Congress  asking  that  California  be  admitted  to  the  Union. 

President  Taylor  in  his  first  message  to  Congress,  when  it  con- 
vened in  December,  1849,  recommended  that  California,  with  her 
anti-slavery  constitution,  be  promptly  admitted  to  the  Union.  He 
also  made  recommendations  with  regard  to  New  Mexico  that  were 
obnoxious  to  the  pro-slavery  people  of  the  South.  His  message 
provoked  intense  anger  at  tlie  South,  but  largely  increased  his 
jDojDularity  at  the  North.  As  a  sequence,  the  situation  on  the  slavery 
question  became  more  alarming  to  tlie  statesmen  who  wislied  to 
preserve  the  Union. 

Mr.  Clay,  having  failed  in  1848  to  secure  a  second  nomination 
for  the  Presidency  from  the  Whigs,  had  been  sent  again  by  his 
Kentucky  friends  to  the  United  States  Senate.  Though  grievously 
disappointed  in  his  Presidential  aspirations,  the  grand  old  states- 
man was  eager  to  procure  "an  amicable  arrangement  of  all  questions 
in  controversy  between  the  free  and  slave  States  growing  out  of  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  577 

subject  of  slavery."  He  sought  to  accomplish  his  lofty  purpose 
by  introducing  a  series  of  resolutions,  setting  forth  the  measures 
he  believed  would  terminate  the  sectional  animosities  that  were 
being  aroused  by  the  prolonged  agitation  of  the  slavery  question. 
The  resolutions  were  referred  to  a  committee  of  thirteen,  of  which 
Mr.  Clay  was  made  chairman.  After  duly  considering  the  several 
resolutions,  the  committee  incorporated  them  in  a  single  bill,  which 
was  named  the  "Omnibus  Bill."  The  Administration  was  firmly 
opposed  to  Mr.  Clay's  compromise  scheme,  as  it  contravened  some 
of  the  most  important  recommendations  President  Taylor  had  made 
in  his  message  to  Congress.  A  prolonged  and  acrimonious  debate 
followed  the  introduction  of  the  Omnibus  Bill,  that  was  not  ended 
until  President  Taylor's  death,  which  came  suddenly  on  the  9th 
of  July,  1850. 

Mr.  Fillmore,  who  had  been  elevated  to  the  Presidency  by  the 
death  of  President  Taylor,  was  in  full  sympathy  with  Mr.  Clay's 
measures  of  Compromise;  but  the  friends  of  the  deceased  President 
antagonized  the  Omnibus  Bill  so  vigorously  that  it  could  not  be 
passed  in  its  entirety.  Mr.  Clay  and  his  associates  then  resorted 
to  the  use  of  separate  bills  to  secure  the  passage  of  their  Com- 
promise measures.  A  bill  was  passed  for  the  organization  of  the 
Territory  of  Utah,  and  that  placed  freedom  and  slavery  upon  the 
same  plane  in  that  Territory.  Other  separate  bills  were  then 
passed,  providing  for  the  admission  of  California ;  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  New  Mexico;  for  adjustment  of  the  disputed  Texas  bound- 
ary ;  for  the  more  effective  recovery  of  fugitive  slaves ;  and  for 
abolishing  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

The  leaders  of  both  political  parties,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
were  well  satisfied  with  the  Compromise,  and  expressed  confident 
belief  that  the  slavery  question  had  been  effectually  adjusted.  But 
a  few  prominent  Whigs  at  the  North,  led  by  William  H.  Seward, 
Benjiamin  Wade,  and  others,  had  persistently  opposed  the  Com- 
promise measures.  Subsequently  they  organized  a  revolt  in  their 
party  at  the  North  against  President  Fillmore's  administration  that 
brought  crushing  defeat  to  the  Whigs  in  the  next  Presidental  elec- 
tion. On  the  other  hand,  the  Democrats  of  all  sections  of  the  Union 
became  compactly  imited  in  support  of  the  Compromise ;  and  the 
Southern  Whigs  were  equally  earnest  in  its  support. 

T.H.— 37 


578  History  of  Tazewell  County 

The  Democrats  assembled  in  a  National  Convention  at  Balti- 
more on  June  1st,  1852,  to  nominate  a  Presidential  ticket.  There 
were  three  candidates  for  the  Democratic  nomination  for  Presi- 
dent— General  Lewis  Cass  of  Michigan;  James  Buchanan  of  Penn- 
sylvania ;  and  \\'illiam  L.  Marcy  of  New  York.  Forty-eight  bal- 
lots were  taken  without  either  of  tlie  candidates  getting  two-thirds 
of  the  delegates  that  was  necessary  to  secure  tlie  nomination. 
Franklin  Pierce,  of  New  Hampshire,  wlio  liad  been  given  scattering- 
votes  during  the  balloting,  was  unanimousl}  nominated  for  Presi- 
dent on  the  fortj'-ninth  ballot;  and  William  R.  King,  of  Alabama, 
was  nominated  for  Vice  President.  The  Democrats  took  a  very 
bold  position  on  the  slavery  question.  In  their  platform,  wliicli 
was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  convention,  it  was  resolved  that 
"all  efforts  of  the  Abolitionists  or  others  to  induce  Congress  to 
interfere  with  the  question  of  slavery  or  to  take  incipient  steps  in 
relation  thereto,  are  calculated  to  lead  to  the  most  alarming  and 
dangerous  consequences."  It  was  then  defiantly  declared  that  "the 
Democratic  party  will  resist  all  attempts  at  renewing,  in  Congress 
or  out  of  it,  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question,  imder  whatever 
shape  or  color  the  attempts  may  be  made."  All  the  Compromise 
measures  that  had  been  passed  by  Congress  were  enthusiastically 
endorsed,  the  fugitive-slave  law  being  given  special  significance  in 
the  platform. 

Two  weeks  later  the  Whigs  held  tlieir  National  Convention  at 
Baltimore;  and  tliey  were  as  sliarply  divided  on  the  slavery  question 
as  the  Democrats  were  closely  united  tliereon.  There  were  but 
three  names  placed  before  the  convention  as  candidates  for  the 
Presidential  nomination.  They  were.  President  Fillmore,  General 
Winfield  Scott,  and  Daniel  Webster.  The  first  ballot  showed  that 
the  Southern  Whigs  were  solidly  for  Fillmore,  with  the  exception 
of  one  vote  from  Virginia;  and  that  the  Northern  Whigs  were  for 
General  Scott,  except  twenty-nine  that  voted  for  Mr.  Webster. 
A  long  and  bitter  contest  was  waged  by  the  friends  of  the  rival 
candidates,  but  General  Scott  was  nominated  on  the  fifty-third 
ballot.  The  ticket  was  completed  by  nominating  William  A. 
Graham,  of  North  Carolina,  for  Vice  President. 

The  Whigs  had  again  selected  a  militar}^  hero  for  their  candi- 
date: and  they  were,  in  the  first  stages  of  the  campaign,  very  hope- 
ful of  winning  the  Presidency.     But  personal  enmities  among  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  579 

leaders  and  widely  divergent  views  on  the  slavery  question  brought 
humiliating  defeat  to  the  Whig  candidates.  The  Whigs  carried  but 
four  States  of  the  Union — Massachusetts  and  Vermont  in  the  North, 
and  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  in  the  South.  Of  the  296  electors 
in  the  electoral  college,  P'ranklin  Pierce  got  the  votes  of  251<  and 
General  Scott  only  42.  Both  the  great  Whig  leaders,  Clay  and 
Webster,  had  died  while  the  campaign  was  in  progress;  Mr.  Clay 
a  few  days  after  Scott's  nomination,  and  Mr.  Webster  a  few  days 
before  the  election.  The  Whig  party  never  rallied  from  this  disas- 
trous defeat,  but  began  to  disintegrate,  and  soon  ceased  to  be  a 
vital  element  in  national  politics. 

Elated  with  the  wonderful  victory  they  gained  over  their  now 
prostrate  rival,  the  Democrats  thought  they  had  secured  a  lease  of 
power  that  would  last  for  many  years.  But  there  was  one  portent- 
ous incident  of  the  Presidential  election  which  failed  to  impress 
the  Democrats  with  the  imminent  danger  that  awaited  them.  The 
Free^Soilers  had  again  presented  a  Presidential  candidate  in  the 
person  of  John  Parker  Hale  of  New  Hampshire.  He  received 
157,685  votes,  nearly  100,000  more  than  Birney,  the  Free-Soil 
candidate,  got  in  1844. 

By  his  inaugural  address,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1853,  President 
Pierce  placed  his  administration  squarely  upon  the  principles  and 
policies  announced  in  the  platform  made  at  Baltimore  by  his  party. 
He  had  no  sympathy  with  the  politicians  who  contemplated  a  dis- 
solution of  the  Union,  and  said:  "Do  my  countrymen  need  any 
assurance  that  such  a  catastrophe  is  not  to  overtake  them  while 
I  possess  the  power  to  stay  it."  Of  the  slavery  question,  which 
then  threatened  to  break  up  the  Union,  he  said: 

"I  believe  that  involuntary  servitude,  as  it  exists  in  the  dif- 
ferent States  of  this  Confederacy,  is  recognized  by  the  Constitu- 
tion. I  believe  that  it  stands  like  any  other  admitted  right,  and 
that  the  States  where  it  exists  are  entitled  to  efficient  remedies  to 
enforce  the  constitutional  provisions.  I  hold  that  the  laws  of  1850, 
commonly  called  the  'compromise  measures,'  are  strictly  constitu- 
tional and  to  be  unhesitatingly  carried  into  effect.  I  believe  that 
the  constituted  authorities  of  this  Republic  are  bound  to  regard 
the  rights  of  the  South  in  this  respect  as  they  would  view  any  other 
legal  and  constitutional  right,  and  that  the  laws  to  enforce  them 
should  be  respected  and  obeyed,  not  with  a  reluctance  encouraged 


580  History  of  Tazewell  County 

by  abstract  opinions  as  to  their  propriety  in  a  different  state  of 
society,  but  cheerfully  and  according  to  the  decisions  of  the  tri- 
bunal to  which  the  exposition  belongs." 

The  views  expressed  by  President  Pierce  in  his  inaugural  address 
gave  complete  satisfaction  to  the  people  and  political  leaders  of 
all  sections,  except  the  rank  Abolitionists  in  the  North  and  the 
extreme  pro-slavery  men  in  the  South.  The  latter  seemed  resolved 
to  tear  down  the  barriers  that  prevented  the  introduction  of  slavery 
into  the  new  Territories,  or  to  break  up  the  Union.  The  country 
continued  at  repose  from  the  inauguration  of  President  Pierce 
until  Congress  convened  in  the  session  of  1853-54,  when  a  bill 
was  introduced  for  the  organization  of  the  Territory  of  Nebraska. 
Archibald  Dixon,  of  Kentucky,  had  been  sent  from  that  State  as 
the  successor  of  Mr.  Clay  in  the  United  States  Senate.  Early  in 
January,  1854,  Mr.  Dixon  gave  notice  that  when  the  bill  to  organize 
the  Territory  of  Nebraska  came  to  the  Senate  he  would  move,  that 
"the  Missouri  Compromise  be  repealed  and  that  the  citizens  of  the 
several  States  shall  be  at  libertv  to  take  and  hold  their  slaves 
within  any  of  the  Territories." 

This  unfortunate  movement  of  Mr.  Dixon  for  a  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  and  the  Compromise  measures  of  1850,  for 
which  his  illustrious  predecessor,  Mr.  Clay,  had  labored  so 
earnestly,  was  premeditated,  and  was  backed  by  the  extreme  pro- 
slavery  men  from  the  South,  including  Jefferson  Davis,  Robert 
Toombs  and  Judah  P.  Benjamin.  It  gave  increased  momentum  to 
the  already  infuriated  Abolitionist  sentiment  in  the  North,  and 
accelerated  the  growing  spirit  of  Disunion  in  the  South.  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  was  then  looming  up  as  an  aspirant  for  the  Democratic 
nomination  for  President  in  1856.  He  realized  that  the  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise  for  the  purposes  assigned  by  Mr. 
Dixon,  "that  the  citizens  of  the  several  States  shall  be  at  liberty 
to  take  and  hold  their  slaves  within  any  of  the  Territoi'ies" — would 
disrupt  the  Democratic  party  in  the  free  States.  To  obviate  the 
threatened  danger  to  his  party,  Mr.  Douglas  reported  a  bill  in  the 
Senate  which  provided  for  organizing  two  new  Territories,  Kansas 
and  Nebraska.  In  one  section  of  the  bill  it  was  declared  that  the 
Missouri  Compromise  of  1820  was  inoperative  and  void,  because 
"it  was  inconsistent  with  the  principle  of  non-intervention  by  Con- 
gress with  slavery  in  the  States  and  Territories  as  recognized  by 


and  Southwest  Virginia  581 

the  Corai^romise  of  1850."  The  bill  of  Mr.  Douglas  farther  declared 
that  "its  true  intent  and  meaning  was  not  to  legislate  slavery  into 
any  Territory  or  State,  and  not  to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to 
leave  the  people  perfectly  free  to  regulate  their  domestic  institutions 
in  tlieir  own  way."  This  was  nothing  more  than  a  reutterance  of 
tlie  Democratic  doctrines  of  "Popular  SovereigTity/'  and  "States 
Rights." 

A  stormy  debate,  which  was  continued  in  Congress  for  four 
months,  followed  the  introduction  of  the  Douglas  bill ;  but  it  was 
finally  passed  by  the  Democrats,  who  were  assisted  by  the  Southern 
Whigs.  The  measure  proved  to  be  the  "Death  Warrant,"  for  the 
Presidential  aspirations  of  Mr.  Douglas.  A  bitter  and  bloody  strug- 
gle was  begun  between  the  pro-slavery  and  anti-slavery  men  for  the 
organization  and  control  of  Kansas  Territory.  In  May,  1854, 
emigrants  from  Missouri  and  Arkansas  commenced  to  move  into 
Kansas.  They  held  a  pro-slavery  convention  on  the  10th  of  June, 
1854,  and  announced  that  slavery  already  existed  in  the  Territory. 
This  caused  the  Massachusetts  Emigrant  Aid  Society,  and  other 
Abolitionist  organizations  in  New  England,  to  send  out  colonies ;  and 
they  established  settlements  at  Topeka,  Ossawatomie  and  at  other 
points.  For  a  period  of  five  years  the  inhabitants  of  the  Territory 
engaged  in  bloody  strife  over  the  slavery  question.  Repeated 
efforts  were  made  by  the  rival  factions  to  set  up  a  territorial  govern- 
ment. On  November  29th,  1854,  an  election  was  held  to  choose  a 
delegate  to  represent  the  Territory  in  Congress.  Armed  bodies  of 
men  from  Missouri  took  possession  of  the  polls,  and  of  the  2,843 
votes  cast,  1,729  were  proved  to  be  illegal.  The  pro-slavery  and 
the  anti-slavery  men,  each,  elected  legislatures  and  held  constitu- 
tional conventions ;  and  many  bloody  conflicts  were  engaged  in.  One 
of  the  events  of  the  year  1856  was  the  brutal  murder  of  pro-slavery 
men  by  a  joarty  of  fanatical  Abolitionists  led  by  John  Brown,  who 
was  afterwards  hung  by  the  Virginia  authorities  for  raising  an 
insurrection  at  HarjDcr's  Ferry.  Finally,  the  Free-Soilers  won,  and 
on  January  29th,  1861,  Kansas  was  admitted  to  the  Union  as  a 
free  State. 

While  the  disorders  in  Kansas  were  at  their  highest  pitch,  and 
a  few  days  before  the  Democrats  nominated  their  National  ticket, 
an  incident  occurred  in  the  National  Capitol  that  stirred  to  frenzy 
the  Abolitionists  of  the   North.     Charles  Sumner,  a  Senator  from 


582  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Massachusetts^  delivered  a  rancorous  speech  in  the  Senate  on  what 
he  styled  the  "Crime  against  Kansas"  that  greatly  incensed  the 
Southern  members  of  Congress.  Tlie  speech  was  violently  resented 
by  Preston  S.  Brooks^  a  hot-headed  member  of  tlie  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives from  South  Carolina.  On  May  26th^  1856,  he  assaulted 
Senator  Sumner,  striking  him  over  the  head  with  a  heavy  cane  while 
he  was  sitting  in  his  chair  in  the  Senate  Chamber.  Mr.  Sumner 
was  so  severely  injured  that  he  had  to  go  abroad  for  medical  treat- 
ment, and  did  not  resume  his  seat  in  the  Senate  until  1859.  A 
resolution  was  introduced  in  the  House  for  the  expulsion  of  Brooks, 
and  the  committee  to  which  it  was  referred  recommended  that  he 
be  expelled.  Brooks  resigTied,  and  was  immediately  re-elected  by 
his  constitutents.  \ATien  the  resolution  to  expel  him  was  being- 
considered  in  the  House,  Bi-ooks  declared  that  "a  blow  struck  by 
him  then  would  be  followed  by  a  revolution."  This  incident  greatly 
accelerated  the  Abolition  movement  that  had  already  attained  dan- 
gerous proportions  at  the  North. 

On  the  1st  of  June,  five  days  after  the  Brooks-Sumner  affair 
occurred,  the  Democrats  held  their  National  Convention  at  Balti- 
more. Thej'  nominated  James  Buchanan  for  President,  and  John 
C.  Breckinridge  for  Vice  President.  In  their  platform  they  endorsed 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  upheld  the  "right  of 
the  people  of  all  the  Territories  to  form  a  constitution  with  or 
without  slavery."" 

The  newl}'  formed  Republican  party,  which  had  been  organizing 
and  consolidating  its  forces  dui'ing  1854-  and  1855,  had  met  in 
National  Convention  previous  to  the  Democrats.  They  nominated 
John  C.  Fremont,  of  California,  for  President,  and  William  L. 
Dayton,  of  New  Jersey,  for  Vice  President.  In  making  their  plat- 
form the  Republicans  declared  that  it  was  "both  the  right  and  the 
imperative  duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  in  the  Territories  those 
twin  relics  of  barbarism — jDolygamy  and  slavery."  The  Whigs 
had  nominated  Millard  Fillmore  for  the  Presidency,  and  selected 
Andrew  Jackson  Donelson,  of  Tennessee,  as  their  candidate  for  the 
Vice  Presidency.  They  made  no  declarations  in  their  platform 
on  the  slavery  question.  By  this  avoidance  of  the  most  vital  issue 
in  American  politics,  the  Whigs  made  but  little  showing  at  the 
election.  Buchanan  received  the  electoral  votes  of  every  Southern 
State  except  Maryland,  which  "gave  its  vote  to  Fillmore.     Of  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  583 

Nortlicrn  States,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Indiana,  Illinois  and 
California  voted  for  Buchanan.  In  the  aggregate  he  received  174 
electoral  votes.  Fremont  received  the  votes  of  the  other  eleven 
free  States.  The  Republicans  had  developed  great  strength  and 
spirit  in  their  first  National  encounter  with  the  Democratic  foe. 
Then  began  the  movement  to  array  a  solid  North  against  a  solid 
South. 

After  the  inauguration  of  President  Buchanan,  the  Democrats 
had  control  of  every  department  of  the  Federal  Government ;  and 
steps  were  promptly  taken  by  the  extreme  men  at  the  South  to 
introduce  slavery  into  Kansas  and  such  other  new  Territories  as 
should  be  organized.  An  event  then  happened  which  gave  oppor- 
tunity for  the  enforcement  of  this  policy.  Very  soon  after  President 
Buchanan  was  inaugurated  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
rendered  its  decision  in  the  famous  Dred  Scott  case.  Dred  Scott 
was  a  Missouri  slave,  whose  master  in  1834  took  him  to  Illinois,  a 
State  which  prohibited  slavery  within  its  bounds.  Scott  married  in 
Illinois,  where  he  remained,  with  his  master's  consent,  until  1838. 
Then  he  was  taken  to  Minnesota  Territory,  where  slavery  had  been 
prohibited  by  the  Missouri  Compromise.  Later,  his  master  brought 
Scott  to  Missouri,  where  the  master  asserted  his  right  to  treat  him 
as  a  slave,  and  whipped  him  for  some  offense.  Scott  brought  a 
suit  for  damages  against  his  master,  claiming  that  his  residence  in 
Illinois  and  Minnesota  had  made  him  a  free  man.  The  master 
denied  that  Scott  had  any  right  to  sue,  as  he  was  descended  from 
slave  ancestors  and  had  himself  never  been  set  free.  Scott  won  in 
the  Missouri  court,  but  his  master  appealed  the  ease  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  This  high  tribunal  in  1857  reversed 
the  decision  of  the  Missouri  court,  holding  that  negro  slaves  were 
chattels,  mere  things,  "who  had  no  rights  and  privileges  but  such 
as  those  who  held  the  power  and  the  government  might  grant  them." 
The  court  also  declared  that  Scott's  residence  in  Minnesota  and 
Illinois  could  not  confer  freedom  upon  him,  because  the  act  of 
1820  (the  Missouri  Compromise)  was  unconstitutional  and  void. 
The  Supreme  Court  also  decided  that  Congress  had  no  more  right 
to  prohibit  the  carrying  of  slaves  into  any  State  and  Territory  than 
it  had  to  prohibit  the  carrying  thither  of  horses  or  any  ether 
property,  holding  that  slaves  were  propei'ty  whose  secure  possession 
was   granted  by   the    Constitution.      The   opinion   of   the   Supreme 


584 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


Court    was    in    harmony    with    the    views    of    President    Pierce    as 
expressed  in  his  inaugural  address  on  the  4th  of  March,  1853. 

Througliout  the  years  1858  and  18  59  there  was  a  bitter  strug- 
gle, sometimes  attended  with  bloodslied.  between  the  pro-slavery 
and  anti-slavery  men  for  the  possession  of  Kansas.  In  this  momen- 
tous struggle  Stephen  A.  Douglas  separated  himself  from  the 
Southern  Democracy  and  tliereby  disrupted  the  Democratic  party. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  585 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   harper's   ferry   INSURRECTION. 

The  most  significant  and  appalling  event  that  occurred  during 
the  prolonged  agitation  of  the  slavery  question  was  the  insurrection 
led  by  John  Brown  at  Harper's  Ferry  in  October,  1859. 

John  Brown,  son  of  Owen  Brown,  a  New  England  fanatic,  was 
born  at  Torrington,  Connecticut,  May  9th,  1800.  When  he  was 
five  years  old  his  father  moved  to  Ohio.  After  he  attained  manhood 
he  met  with  business  failures  in  Ohio,  Massachusetts  and  Con- 
necticut. In  1855  he  moved  from  Connecticut  to  Kansas,  no  doubt 
at  the  instance  of  the  Massachusetts  Emigrant  Aid  Society.  He 
became  a  leading  spirit  among  the  Abolitionists  who  were  struggling 
to  prevent  the  introduction  of  slavery  into  Kansas ;  and  was  engaged 
in  a  number  of  lawless  enterprises  against  the  slaveholders.  Brown 
assumed  the  role  of  a  religious  enthusiast,  w-as  a  rigid  Presbyterian, 
and  pretended  to  believe  he  was  called  of  God  to  give  freedom  to 
the  Africans  held  in  slavery  at  the  South. 

As  early  as  1857,  Brown  began  to  formulate  secret  plans  to 
invade  Virginia  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  liberating  slaves.  His 
scheme  was  to  make  the  line  of  the  mountains  which  cut  diagonally 
through  ]Maryland  and  Virginia,  down  through  these  States  into 
Tennessee  and  Alabama,  the  base  of  his  operations.  These  plans 
were  formed  with  associate  conspirators  in  Kansas.  Iowa.  Canada, 
Ohio,  New  England  and  other  places.  In  1858  he  and  his  two 
sons,  Oliver  and  Watson,  went  to  Harper's  Ferry,  then  in  Jefferson 
County,  Virginia,  now  West  Virginia,  where,  under  the  assumed 
name  of  Smith,  they  pretended  to  be  prospectors  hunting  for  ores. 
They  stayed  thereabout  several  months  and  then  disappeared. 
After  an  absence  of  several  months,  John  Brown  returned  to  the 
vicinity  and  rented  a  farm  in  Maryland  about  four  miles  from 
the  Ferry.  He  and  his  sons  made  frequent  visits  to  Harper's  Ferry, 
where  the  old  man  still  appeared  as  "Bill  Smith."  The  invading 
force,  which  was  composed  of  John  Brown,  three  sons,  and  thirteen 
other  white  men,  and  five  negroes,  was  assembled  at  the  rented 
farm.     And  large  quantities  of  arms,  ammunition,  clothing  and  other 


586  History  of  Tazewell  County 

sui^plies,  purchased  with  money  supplied  by  Northern  Abolitionists, 
were  deposited  at  the  farm. 

About  10:30  o'clock  Sunday  night,  October  16th,  1859,  John 
Brown,  his  three  sons,  Oliver,  Watson  and  Owen,  and  thirteen  other 
white  men,  and  five  negroes  crossed  the  Potomac  on  the  railroad 
bridge  and  took  violent  possession  of  Harper's  Ferry.  A  small 
party  of  the  desperadoes  was  sent  into  the  adjacent  country  to 
arrest  slaveholders,  and  take  possession  of  slaves.  They  arrested 
Colonel  Lewis  Washington  and  twelve  of  his  slaves ;  then  arrested 
a  Mr.  Allstadt  and  his  sixteen-year-old  son,  and  forced  all  their 
negroes  they  could  find  to  go  with  them.  The  prisoners  were  taken 
to  the  Ferry  and  confined  in  the  engine  house  of  the  United  States 
Arsenal,  Brown  and  his  band  having  taken  possession  of  that  build- 
ing. In  the  morning,  when  the  people  came  from  their  houses  they 
found  the  town  in  complete  possession  of  the  insurrectionists.  A 
number  of  men  in  the  employ  of  the  U.  S.  Government  at  the 
Arsenal,  on  going  to  their  work,  were  arrested  and  confined  in  the 
Armory. 

Alarms  were  sent  to  Charlestown,  the  county  seat  of  Jefferson 
County,  and  to  other  nearby  towns,  calling  for  assistance ;  and 
companies  of  the  volunteer  militia  were  quickly  dispatched  to  aid 
the  citizens  of  Harper's  Ferry.  The  "Jefferson  Guard"  from 
Charlestown  arrived  upon  the  scene  at  1 1 :30  A.  M. ;  and  during 
the  day  ti-oojDS  from  Shepherdstown,  Mai-tinsburg  and  other  points 
came  in.  They  took  possession  of  the  railroad  bridge,  and  occupied 
houses  that  commanded  the  front,  rear  and  sides  of  the  Armory, 
where  Brown  and  his  men  had  congregated  after  leaving  a  small 
squad  in  charge  of  the  railroad  bridge.  Before  the  arrival  of  the 
troops  a  negro  man  had  been  killed  by  the  insurgents,  because  the 
negro  refused  to  join  them.  They  had  also  killed  Joseph  Boerly. 
a  citizen,  while  standing  unarmed  in  his  door;  and  had  shot  and 
killed  Samuel  P.  Young,  a  citizen  from  the  country,  who  was  riding 
in  to  give  assistance  to  the  people  of  the  town.  Wliile  desultory 
shots  were  being  exchanged  between  the  soldiers  and  the  insurrec- 
tionists, Fontaine  Beckham,  mayor  of  the  town,  was  shot  by  one 
of  Brown's  sons  and  died  almost  instantly.  The  troops  had  cap- 
tured William  Thompson  when  the  bridge  was  taken  from  the 
insurgents,  and  the  indignant  populace  demanded  that  he  should 
be  immediately  executed,  because  of  Beckham's  death.     Thompson 


and  Southwest  Virginia  587 

was  taken  out  on  the  bridge  and  sliot  to  death,  his  body  being  rid- 
dled with  balls. 

By  directions  of  Captain  Brown,  a  squad  of  insurrectionists  had 
taken  possession  of  Hall's  rifle  works.  They  were  dislodged  by  the 
soldiers  and  one  of  the  squad  killed.  Earlier  in  the  day  the  Mar- 
tinsburg  men,  who  were  mostly  railroad  employees,  tried  to  force 
their  way  into  the  Armory  to  rescue  the  prisoners.  In  the  charge 
Conductor  Evans  Dorsey,  of  Baltimore,  was  instantly  killed,  and 
Conductor  George  Richardson  received  a  wound  from  which  he 
died  during  the  day.  Colonel  Robert  W.  Baylor,  who  was  "Colonel 
Commandant"  of  the  military  forces,  in  his  report  to  Governor 
Henry  A.  Wise  of  the  operations  of  the  day  said:  "During  this 
engagement  and  the  previous  skirmishes,  we  had  ten  men  wounded, 
two  I  fear  mortally.  The  insurgents  had  eleven  killed,  one  mortally 
wounded,  and  two  taken  prisoners,  leaving  only  five  in  the  engine 
house,  and  one  of  them  seriously  wounded."  Night  came  on  and 
operations  ceased,  but  a  strong  guard  was  placed  around  the  Armory 
to  prevent  the  escape  of  any  of  the  desperadoes. 

At  11  o'clock  that  night  a  train  arrived  at  Sandy  Hook  on  the 
Maryland  side  of  the  Potomac.  The  train  brought  a  military  com- 
pany from  Baltimore,  and  eighty-five  U.  S.  Marines  sent  from 
Washington  by  the  War  Department.  General  John  B.  Floyd  was 
then  Secretary  of  War,  and  he  liad  selected  Colonel  Robert  E.  Lee 
to  command  the  marines;  and  Lieutenant  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  of  the  1st 
U.  S.  Cavalry,  was  Colonel  Lee's  aid.  Colonel  Lee  promptly 
marched  the  marines  across  the  river  and  stationed  them  within  the 
Armory  grounds,  so  as  to  completely  surround  the  engine  house. 
Late  on  Monday,  Brown  had  sent  a  written  message  to  Colonel 
Baylor  proposing  to  yield,  if  he  was  permitted  to  cross  the  Potomac 
bridge  with  his  men  and  all  their  arms  and  ammunition,  and  to  take 
along  his  prisoners  who  would  be  released  as  soon  as  they  got  a 
little  beyond  the  river.  This  proposition  was  rejected  promptly 
by  Colonel  Baylor.  It  was  agreed  between  Colonel  Lee  and  Colonel 
Baylor  that  at  daybreak  "the  volunteer  forces  should  form  around 
the  outside  of  the  government  property  and  clear  the  streets  of 
citizens  and  spectators,  to  prevent  them  from  firing  random  shots, 
to  the  great  danger  of  our  soldiers,  and  to  remain  in  that  position 
whilst  he  would  attack  the  engine  house  with  his  marines." 

At  early  dawn  the  troops  were  drawn  up  in  accordance  with  the 


588  History  of  Tazewell  County 

above  arrangement.  Lieutenant  Stuart  then  advanced  to  the  engine 
Jiouse  andj  in  a  parley  with  Brown,  demanded  an  unconditional 
surrender.  Brown  refused  to  surrender  on  any  terms,  except  those 
he  had  presented  to  Colonel  Bajdor  the  day  previous.  Colonel 
Baylor  in  his  report  to  Governor  Wise  says:  "The  marines  were 
then  ordered  to  force  the  doors.  The  attempt  was  made  with  heavy 
sledge  hammers,  but  proved  ineffectual.  The}'  were  then  ordered  to 
attack  the  doors  with  a  heavy  ladder  which  was  lying  a  short  dis- 
tance off.  After  two  powerful  efforts  the  door  was  shattered  suffi- 
ciently to  obtain  an  entrance.  Immediately  a  heavy  volley  was 
fired  in  by  the  marines,  and  an  entrance  effected  which  soon  termi- 
nated the  conflict.  In  this  engagement,  the  marines  had  one  killed 
and  one  slightly  wounded.  The  insurgents  liad  two  killed  and 
three  taken  prisoners.  After  the  firing  ceased,  the  inprisoned 
citizens  walked  out  unhurt." 

At  about  noon  on  the  same  day  the  Independent  Grays,  of  Bal- 
timore, were  dispatched  to  Brown's  house  across  the  river  to  search 
for  arms  and  ammunition.  They  returned  at  six  o'clock  and  brought 
with  them  what  had  been  found  secreted  by  the  insurgents.  There 
were  two  hundred  Sharpe's  rifles,  two  hundred  revolvers,  twenty- 
three  tliousand  percussion  caps,  one  hundred  thousand  percussion 
pistol  caps,  ten  kegs  of  gunpowder,  thirteen  thousand  ball  cart- 
ridges for  Sharpe's  rifles,  one  Major  General's  sword,  fifteen  hun- 
dred pikes,  and  a  large  assortment  of  blankets,  shoes  and  clothing 
of  every  description.  They  also  discovered  a  carpet  bag,  containing 
documents  throwing  much  light  on  the  conspiracy,  printed  consti- 
tutions and  by-laws  of  an  organization,  showing  or  indicating 
ramifications  in  various  States  of  the  Union.  They  also  found 
letters  from  various  individuals  at  the  North — one  from  Fred 
Douglas,  containing  ten  dollars  from  a  lady  for  the  cause;  also 
a  letter  from  Gerrit  Smith,  about  money  matters,  and  a  check  or 
draft  by  him  for  $100,  endorsed  by  a  cashier  of  a  New  York  bank. 
All  these  were  turned  over  to  Governor  Wise. 

Governor  Wise,  who  had  arrived  on  Tuesday,  went  with  Colonel 
Lee  and  others  to  have  an  interview  with  Brown.  The  Governor 
said  "he  was  sorry  to  see  a  man  of  his  age  in  that  position."  Brown 
defiantly  replied,  "I  ask  no  sympathj^  and  have  no  apologies  to 
make."  Then,  the  Governor  asked  him  if  he  did  not  think  he  had 
done  wrong,  and  he  replied,  "No."     And  he  declared,  that  though 


and  Southwest  Virginia  589 

he  had  but  twenty-two  men  with  him  on  the  raid,  he  expected  large 
reinforcements  from  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  and  So.ath  Carolina, 
and  the  New  England  States  and  New  York.  This  was  an  admission 
that  the  conspiracy  was  much  more  extensive  than  Brown  later 
claimed  it  to  be;  and  that  he  and  his  associates  expected  to  excite 
a  wide-spread  insurrection  among  the  slaves  at  the  South. 

On  Wednesday,  the  19th  of  October,  United  States  Senator 
James  M.  Mason,  of  Virginia,  and  Congressman  C.  L.  Vallanding- 
ham,  of  Ohio,  sought  and  obtained  an  interview  with  Captain  Brown. 
The  object  of  the  interviewers  was  to  persuade  him  to  disclose  the 
names  of  the  prominent  Abolitionists  who  were  connected  with  the 
conspiracj'^  and  had  helped  to  finance  the  enterprise.  A  reporter 
of  the  New  York  Herald  was  present  and  made  a  stenographic 
report  of  the  questions  propounded  and  the  answers  given  by 
Brown.  He  either  refused  to  answer  or  evaded  all  questions  that 
would  accomplish  the  purpose  of  Mason  and  Vallandingham.  But 
he  lost  no  opportunity  to  magnify  his  own  importance  as  a  Great 
Deliverer,  Philanthropist,  and  exponent  of  the  Golden  Rule;  and 
he  tried  to  justify  his  many  criminal  acts  during  the  years  he  had 
been  engaged  in  outlawry.  Shortly  after  this  interview  the  prison- 
ers— John  Brown,  Aaron  C.  Stephens.  Edwin  Coppie,  Shields 
Green  and  John  Copeland — were  placed  in  tlie  custody  of  the 
sheriff  of  Jefferson  County  and  lodged  in  the  county  jail  at  Charles- 
town. 

On  the  20th  of  the  month  a  mittimus  was  issued  by  Rodger 
Chew,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  directing  the  sheriff  to  deliver  the 
bodies  of  the  prisoners  to  the  county  jailer  for  safe  keeping.  And 
on  the  26th  a  grand  jury  brought  in  an  indictment  against  John 
Brown,  Aaron  C.  Stephens,  alias  Aaron  D.  Stephens,  and  Edwin 
Coppie,  white  men,  and  Shields  Green  and  John  Copeland,  free 
negroes.  The  prisoners  were  indicted:  "For  conspiring  with 
negroes  to  produce  an  insurrection ;  for  treason  in  the  Common- 
wealth; and  for  murder." 

The  prisoners  were  brought  into  court  under  an  armed  g-uard. 
and  upon  their  arraignment  each  prisoner  plead,  "Not  Guilty." 
Then  the  prosecuting  attorney  announced  that,  "The  State  elects  to 
try  John  Brown  first."  Thereupon,  Brown  asked  for  delay  in  his 
trial  for  various  reasons,  chiefly  because  of  his  physical  condition 
and  absence  of  counsel  he  was  expecting  to  be  sent  by  his  sympath- 


590  History  of  Tazewell  County 

izers  at  the  North ;  but  the  court,  for  sufficient  cause,  refused  to 
grant  the  request,  and  the  trial  was  begun. 

The  first  day  was  occupied  in  selecting  a  jury.  When  Brown 
was  brouglit  into  court  the  second  day,  Mr.  Botts,  of  his  counsel, 
informed  the  court  that  friends  had  tried  to  persuade  the  accused 
to  put  in  a  plea  of  insanity,  but  that  he  disdained  to  put  in  the  plea. 
Brown  then  said:  "I  will  add,  if  the  court  will  allow  me,  that  1 
look  upon  it  as  a  miserable  artifice  and  pretext  of  those  who  ought 
to  take  a  different  course  in  regard  to  me,  if  they  took  any  at  all, 
and  I  view  it  with  contempt  more  than  otherwise.  I  am  perfectly 
unconscious  of  insanity,  and  I  reject,  so  far  as  I  am  capable,  any 
attempt  to  interfere  in  my  behalf  on  that  score." 

This  act  of  the  prisoner  made  it  impossible  for  his  counsel  to 
make  any  reasonable  defense  for  their  client.  He  made  no  denial 
that  he  had  committed  the  offenses  charged  in  the  indictment,  and 
persisted  in  claiming  that  what  he  had  done  with  his  organized  band 
of  outlaws  was  righteous  in  the  sight  of  God.  The  jury  could  not 
do  otherwise  than  bring  in  a  verdict  of  guilty  on  all  of  the  three 
charges  laid  in  the  indictment,  and  the  verdict  was:  "Guilty  of 
treason,  and  conspiring  and  advising  with  slaves  and  others  to 
rebel,  and  murder  in  the  first  degree."  Before  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced by  Judge  Richard  Parker,  the  presiding  judge.  Brown 
was  asked  by  the  clerk  if  he  had  anytliing  to  say.  The  condemned 
man  arose  and  addressed  the  court  in  a  clear  voice.  He  undertook 
to  justify  the  criminal  conduct  of  himself  and  companions,  and 
denied  having  any  sense  of  guilt;  and  he  said:  "I  feel  entirely 
satisfied  witli  the  treatment  I  have  received  on  my  trial.  Consider- 
ing all  the  circumstances,  it  has  been  more  generous  than  I 
expected."  When  Brown  concluded.  Judge  Parker  declared  that 
no  reasonable  doubt  could  exist  of  the  guilt  of  the  prisoner  and 
sentenced  him  to  be  hung  in  public,  on  Friday,  the  2nd  of  December, 
1859.  The  sentence  was  executed  and  John  Brown  expiated  his 
many  crimes  on  the  appointed  day. 

The  other  prisoners  were  tried  in  succession,  and  they  shared 
the  same  fate  that  befell  their  desperate  leader.  Below  is  a  record 
of  what  befell  John  Brown  and  his  "Men-at-Arms,"  as  they  were 
named  by  one  of  Brown's  admiring  biographers: 

General  John  Brown — Executed  at  Charleston,  Dec.  2nd,  1859. 
n 'Captain  John  E.  Cook — Escaped,  but  was  captured  at  Cham- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  591 

bcr.sbiirg,    Pennsyh  ania,   Oct.    "iStli^    was    tried,    found   guilty,    sen- 
tenced Nov.  2nd,  and  executed  Dec.  16tli,  1859. 

Lieutenant  Kihcin  Coppie — Tried  immediately  after  Joiin 
Brown,  found  guilty,  and  executed  Dec.  IGtli,  1859. 

Captain  Aaron  C.  Stephens — Trial  postponed  until  spring  term 
on  account  of  his  severe  wounds.  Tried,  convicted,  and  executed 
^larch   ll)tli,  18(30. 

Lieutenant  Albert  Hazlett — Escaped  from  Harper's  Ferry,  was 
captured  at  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  October  22nd,  extradited  to 
Virginia,  tried  and  sentenced  at  spring  term,  and  executed  March 
Kith,  18  GO. 

Lieutenant  WiUiavi  H.  Leeman — Killed  at  Harper's  Ferry. 
Captain   Oliver  Broxcn — Killed   at   Harper's   P'erry. 
Captain  Watson  Broxmi — Killed  at  Harper's  Ferry. 
Captain  John  Kacji — Killed  at  Harper's  Ferry. 
Lieutenant  Jeremiah  Anderson — Killed  at  Harper's  Ferry. 
Stezvart  Taylor — Killed  at  Harper's  Ferr)'. 
William  Thompson — Killed  at  HarjDer's  Ferry. 
Dauphin  0.  Thompson — Killed  at  Harper's  Ferry. 
Charles  P.  Tidd — Made  his  escape.     Died  at  Roanoke  Island 
from  fever  while  the  battle  was  going  on  at  that  place,  Feb.  8th, 
1862.     He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Federal  Army. 

Francis  J.  Merriam — Escaped,  and  died  in  New  York  City,  Nov. 
28th,  1865. 

Oiven  Brotvn — son  of  John — escaped,  and  died  in  California, 
Jan.  9th,  1891.     He  was  the  last  of  the  five  who  escaped  to  die. 

Barclai/  Coppie — Escaped  and  was  killed  in  a  railroad  accident 
in  Kansas,  Sept.  3rd,  1861,  was  then  a  Lieutenant  in  a  Kansas 
regiment. 

John  A.  Copeland — (Free  Negro) — was  tried,  found  guilty, 
and  executed  at  Charlestown,  December  16th,  1859. 

Shields  Green — (Escaped  slave  from  South  Carolina) — was 
executed  at  Charlestown,  Dec.  ]6tli,  1859. 

Lewis  L.  Lean/ — (Free  negro) — died  from  wounds  at  Harper's 
Ferry. 

Oscar  P.  Anderson  —  (Free  negro) — escaped,  and  died  from  con- 
sumption at  Washington,  D.  C,  Dec.  13th,  1872. 

Dancjerfield  Nezcbi/ — (Free  negro) — killed  at   Harper's   Ferry. 
Tlie   prompt   action   of   the   Virginia   authorities   in   trying   and 


592 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


disposing  of  Jolin  Brown  and  liis  professional  outlaw  associates 
was  bitterly  denounced  by  the  Abolitionists  as  merciless  and  unjust. 
They  were  so  blinded  by  fanaticism  that  they  did  not  realize  the 
enormity  of  Brown's  lawless  deeds;  and  they  claimed  that  the 
incident  was  magnified  in  importance  by  the  Southern  people 
through  fear  of  future  similar  occurrences.  Governor  Wise  and 
the  Virginians  were  actuated  by  no  vague  fear  of  other  similar 
insurrections ;  but  were  resolved  to  show  the  people  of  the  North 
how  the  South  would  meet  and  repel  the  mightier  attack  upon 
Southern  institutions  that  was  foreshadowed  by  the  insurrection  at 
Harper's  Ferry — the  attack  that  came  about  eighteen  months  later. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  593 


CHAPTER  III. 

TIIK   PilESIDENTlAL   ELECTION    OF    1860. 

Agitation  of  the  slavery  question  was  foreshadowed  by  the 
admission  of  Louisana  to  the  Union  in  1812;  and  it  became  a  dan- 
gerous issue  in  American  politics  when  the  struggle  for  the  admis- 
sion of  Missouri  as  a  slave  State  began  in  1820.  For  a  period  of 
forty  years  the  agitation  continued  and  grew  in  violence  until  the 
climax  came  in  18G0.  The  Presidential  election  of  that  year  trans- 
formed the  militant  National  Democracy  into  a  disrupted  and 
powerless  minority  party— in  which  condition  it  remained  for 
twenty-four  years— and  relegated  the  scattered  remnants  of  the  once 
great  Whig  party  to  political  oblivion. 

When  the   Democrats   assembled  in  their   National   Convention 
at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  on  the  23rd  of  April,  1860,  to  nomi- 
nate a  Persidential  ticket,  it  was  found  impossible  to  reconcile  the 
divergent  views  of  the  delegates  who  came  from  the  tw^o  sections  of 
the  Union.    The  delegates  from  the  free  States  were  enthusiastically 
in  favor  of  the  nomination  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  while  the  dele- 
gates from  the  slave  States  were  more  deeply  concerned  about  the 
position  the  party  should  take  on  the  slavery  question  than  they 
were  in  the  choosing  of  a  Presidential  candidate.     Southern  extrem- 
ists, led  by   Judah   P.   Benjamin,  demanded  that  there   should  be 
written  into  the  platform  an  explicit  assertion  of  the  right  of  citizens 
to  settle  with  their  slaves  in  the  Territories;  and  also  make  emphatic 
declaration  that  this  right  should  not  "be  destroyed  or  impaired  by 
Congressional  or  Territorial  legislation."     The  extreme  pro-slavery 
men  also  insisted   upon  a  declaration  that   "it  is  the  duty  of  the 
Federal   Government,    when   necessary,   to   protect   slavery   in   the 
Territories,  and  wherever  else  its  constitutional  authority  extends." 
These  demands  were  resisted  by  the  delegates  from  the  free  States, 
and  the  Southern  men  refused  to  accept  any  compromise  proposi- 
tion made  by  the  Democrats  from  the  North.     Seven  of  the  Southern 
States— Louisiana,  Alabama,  South  Carolina,  Mississippi,  Florida, 
Texas  and  Arkansas— withdrew  from  the  convention,  and  organized 
another  assemblage,  which  was  presided  ovei  by  James  A.  Bayard, 
T.H. — 38 


594  and  Southwest  Virginia 

of  Delaware.  The  Douglas  men  then  had  eontrol  of  the  convention 
but  could  not  muster  enough  votes  to  give  him  the  nomination. 
Finding  it  impossible  to  make  a  nomination,  on  the  3rd  of  May  the 
convention  adjourned  to  reconvene  in  Baltimore  on  the  18th  of 
June. 

When  the  Democratic  Convention  re-assembled  at  Baltimore  on 
tlie  18tli  of  June  the  sectional  spirit  manifested  at  the  Charleston 
gathering  had  not  abated  but  had  become  more  aggravated.  The 
delegates  from  the  South,  with  those  from  California  and  Oregon, 
and  two  delegates  from  Massachusetts — Caleb  Cushing  and  Ben- 
jamin F.  Butler — nominated  John  C.  Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky, 
for  President,  and  Joseph  Lane,  of  Oregon,  for  Vice  President. 
The  delegates  from  the  North,  assisted  by  a  few  scattering  votes 
from  the  South,  nominated  Stephen  A.  Douglas  for  President,  and 
Herschel  V.  Johnson,  of  Georgia,  for  Vice  President. 

William  P.  Cecil,  of  Tazewell  County,  was  one  of  the  delegates 
from  the  Thirteenth  Congressional  District  of  Virginia  to  the  Na- 
tional Democratic  Convention;  and  attended  and  participated  in  its 
deliberations  both  at  Charleston  and  Baltimore.  Knowing  that  the 
people  whom  he  represented  were  in  sympathy  with  the  men  of 
tlie  South,  who  were  resolved  to  maintain  their  constitutional 
rights,  he  co-operated  with  the  Southern  delegates  both  at  Charles- 
ton and  Baltimore,  and  voted  for  the  nomination  of  Breckinridge 
and  Lane.  The  Tliirteentli  Congressional  District  was  then  com- 
posed of  the  following  counties:  Smyth,  Washington,  Lee,  Wise, 
Russell,  Tazewell,  McDowell,  Buchanan,  Wythe,  Grayson,  Carroll, 
Pulaski,  and  Scott. 

During  the  interval  between  the  adjournment  at  Charleston  and 
the  assembling  of  the  Democratic  convention  at  Baltimore,  an  organ- 
ization which  styled  itself  the  "Constitutional-Union  Party"  held 
a  convention  in  Baltimore,  and  nominated  John  Bell  of  Tennessee 
for  President,  and  P'.dward  Everett  of  Massachusetts,  for  Vice 
President.  The  new  party,  which  never  again  appeared  in  American 
politics,  was  an  aggregation  of  old  Whigs  and  men  from  the  defunct 
American,  or  Know  Nothing  party.  They  were  anxious  to  pre- 
serve the  Union,  but  upheld  the  Institution  of  slavery  as  a  guaran- 
teed constitutional  right. 

And,  in  the  interval  between  the  adjournment  of  the  Democratic 
convention  at   Charleston   and  its   re-assembling  at  Baltimore,  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  595 

Republicans  had  met  in  National  Convention  at  Chicago.  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  nominated  as  the  candidate  of  the  party  for  the  Presi- 
dency; and  Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine,  was  made  its  candidate  for 
Vice  President.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  opposed  to  the  extension  of 
slavery,  and  favored  the  enactment  of  laws  to  prohibit  its  extension 
beyond  the  States  where  the  institution  already  existed.  Mr.  Breck- 
inridge advocated  the  extension  of  slavery,  and  was  not  averse  to 
the  doctrine  of  secession.  The  campaign  was  conducted  upon  the 
widely  divergent  views  of  Lincoln  and  Breckenridge  on  the  slavery 
question,  and  four  years  of  awful  civil  strife  was  the  fruit  it  bore. 

As  the  campaign  progressed  the  rift  that  divided  the  Democrats 
of  the  two  sections  of  the  Union  was  widened,  and  the  ranks  of  the 
Republicans  were  constantly  augmented  by  accessions  from  Northern 
Democrats,  who  were  indignant  because  of  the  avowed  purpose  of 
the  Southern  leaders  to  withdraw  from  the  Union,  if  necessary,  to 
extend  and  perpetuate  slavery.  It  soon  became  evident  that  the 
voters  of  the  free  States  would  vote  for  either  Lincoln  or  Douglas, 
and  that  the  votes  of  the  Southerners  would  be  cast  for  either 
Breckinridge  or  Bell.  When  the  election  returns  were  canvassed,  it 
was  found  that  Lincoln  had  carried  every  free  State,  and  that 
Breckinridge  had  won  in  every  slave  State  except  four;  Virginia, 
Kentucky,  and  Maryland  voting  for  Bell,  and  Missouri  for  Douglas. 
The  electoral  vote  by  the  colleges  stood:  180  for  Lincoln  and 
Hamlin;  72  for  Breckinridge  and  Lane;  39  for  Bell  and  Everett; 
and  12  for  Douglas  and  Johnson.  By  a  j^lurality  of  the  popular  vote, 
Lincoln  carried  18  States;  Breckinridge,  11;  Bell,  3;  and  Douglas, 
only  1.  Of  the  entire  popular  vote  Lincoln  got  1,857,601 ;  Douglas, 
1,291,574;  Breckinridge,  850,082;  and  Bell,  64.6,124.  Thus  it  will  be 
seen  that  Lincoln  lacked  930,170  of  a  popular  majority,  and  was 
a  minority  President.  The  election  was  purely  sectional  in  char- 
acter, as  all  the  States  carried  by  Mr.  Lincoln  were  north  of  what 
is  known  as  "Mason  and  Dixon's  Line." 

When  the  result  of  the  election  was  announced  the  Abolitionists 
at  the  North  were  greatly  elated,  especially  those  who  had  eulogized 
John  Brown  and  his  criminal  associates  for  their  conduct  at  Harper's 
Ferry.  The  people  of  the  South  were  thrown  into  a  state  of  intense 
anger  and  excitement,  and  felt  that  no  other  course  was  left  them 
but  peacable  withdrawal  from  the  Union.  A  political  party  had 
gained  control  of  the  executive  branch  of  the  Federal  Government 


596  History  of  Tazewell  County 

with  the  avowed  pvirpose  of  not  only  preventing  the  extension  of 
slavery  into  the  Territories^  but  of  eventuallj^  securing,  through 
peaceful  means,  its  abolishment  from  the  States  of  the  Union. 

The  session  of  Congress  that  followed  Mr.  Lincoln's  election 
was  stormy  and  eventful.  John  C.  Crittenden,  then  a  Senator  from 
Kentucky,  tried  to  avert,  by  compromise,  the  impending  catastrophe. 
Early  in  the  session,  in  December,  1860,  he  presented  in  the  Senate, 
as  the  basis  for  settlement  of  the  slavery  question,  the  famous 
Missouri  Compromise  line  36°  30'  as  a  division  of  the  public  domain. 
The  proposition  of  INIr.  Crittenden  was  offered  in  the  form  of  a 
constitutional  amendment.  Large  numbers  of  'petitions  were 
received  daily  from  citizens  of  the  free  States  urging  the  adoption 
of  the  iDroposition.  Jefferson  Davis,  Robert  Toombs,  and  nearly 
all  the  extremist  Southern  Senators,  together  with  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  and  the  conservative  Senators  from  the  North,  were  in 
favor  of  the  Crittenden  plan  for  restoring  peace  and  harmony 
between  the  two  sections  of  the  Union.  But  it  was  found  that  no 
Abolitionist,  and  not  a  single  prominent  man  of  the  party  that  had 
elected  Mr,  Lincoln,  would  accept  and  stand  by  the  proposed  plan 
for  settlement  of  the  momentous  question.  Thereupon,  nearly  all 
the  Southern  Senators,  including  ]\Ir.  Davis  and  Mr.  Toombs, 
united  in  sending  a  telegram  to  the  people  of  the  South,  advising 
them,  as  a  matter  of  safety,  to  withdraw  from  the  Union. 

On  the  night  of  the  14th  of  November.  1860.  Alexander  H. 
Stephens,  afterwards  Vice  President  of  the  Confederate  States, 
made  an  address  to  the  Legislature  of  Georgia  and  an  immense 
audience  at  Milledgeville.  It  vis  a  very  conservative  and  able 
address ;  and  Mr.  Stephens  took  the  position  that  Georgia  ought  not 
to  secede  from  the  Union  because  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  election.  In 
part,  he  said:  "In  my  judgment,  the  election  of  no  man,  consti- 
tutionally chosen,  to  that  high  office  (the  President)  is  sufficient 
cause  to  justify  any  State  to  separate  from  the  Union.  We  are 
pledged  to  maintain  the  Constitution.  Many  of  us  have  sworn  to 
support  it."  He  urged,  that  "if  the  Republic  is  to  go  down,  *  *  * 
Let  the  fanatics  of  the  North  break  the  Constitution,  if  such  is  their 
fell  purpose."  Mr.  Stephens  also  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  opposing  parties  had  control  of  both  Houses  of  the  newly 
elected  Congress,  which  made  the  Republican  President  powerless  to 
carry  into  effect  any  unconstitutional  principles  of  his  party.     Hear- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  597 

ing  of  this  speech^  Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  to  Mr.  Stephens  for  a  copy, 
that  he  might  be  more  fully  informed  of  its  import.  On  Dec.  22, 
I860,  Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  to  Mr.  Stephens  a  private  letter,  endorsed 
at  the  head  "For  your  eye  only",  and,  in  part,  saying: 

"Do  tile  people  of  the  South  really  entertain  fears  that  a  Repub- 
lican administration  would,  direcllij  or  Indirectly,  interfere  with 
the  slaves,  or  with  them,  about  their  slaves?  If  they  do,  I  wish 
to  assure  you,  as  once  a  friend,  and  still,  I  hope,  not  an  enemy,  that 
there  is  no  cause  for  such  fears.  The  South  would  be  in  no  more 
danger  in  this  respect,  than  it  was  in  the  days  of  Washington. 
I  suppose,  however,  this  does  not  meet  the  case.  You  think  slavery 
is  right  and  ought  to  be  extended,  while  we  think  it  is  wrong  and 
ought  to  be  restricted.  That  I  suppose  is  the  rule.  It  certainly 
is  the  only  substantial  difference  between  us." 

Clearly  it  was  at  that  time  Mr.  Lincoln's  purpose  not  to  disturb 
slavery  in  the  Southern  States,  but  to  prevent  its  extension  beyond 
those  States  where  it  already  existed.  This,  however,  was  not 
satisfactory  to  the  ultra  jjro-slavery  men  of  the  South,  who  had 
resolved  to  extend  it  into  the  Territories,  and  to  also  demand  a 
strict  enforcement  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  They  were  also 
demanding  that  persons  committing  crimes  against  slave  property 
in  one  State,  and  fleeing  to  another  should  be  delivered  up  for 
trial  in  the  State  where  the  crime  was  committed,  and  that:  "A 
person  charged  in  any  State  with  treason,  felon}',  or  any  other 
crime,  who  shall  flee  from  justice  and  be  found  in  another  State, 
shall,  on  demand  of  the  executive  authority  of  the  State  from  which 
he  fled,  be  delivered  up,  to  be  removed  to  the  State  having  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  crime."  Executives  of  certain  of  the  free  States  had 
refused  to  deliver  up  such  criminals;  and  the  Governor  of  Ohio 
had  actually  refused  to  deliver  up  to  the  Vii'ginia  authorities  men 
who  were  engaged  in  the  Harper's  Ferry  insurrection. 

Following  the  advice  of  Jefi^erson  Davis,  Robert  Toombs  and 
other  Southern  Senators,  South  Carolina  withdrew  from  the  Union 
by  an  ordinance  of  secession,  passed  by  a  convention  on  the  20th 
day  of  December,  1860.  Later  on,  at  short  intervals,  Mississippi, 
Louisiana,  Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  and  Texas  passed  ordinances 
of  secession.  In  her  ordinance,  South  Carolina  had  incorporated  an 
invitation  to  all  the  Southern  States  who  might  secede  to  join  her 
in  sending  delegates  to  a  Congress  to  meet  on  the  4th  of  February, 


598  History  of  Tazewell  County 

ISGl,  at  Montgomery,  Alabama.  This  invitation  was  accepted  by 
Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Texas;  and 
the  delegates  from  those  States  assembled  with  the  delegates  from 
South  Carolina  at  Montgomery  on  the  day  fixed  in  the  invitation. 
The  Senators  and  Members  in  the  Federal  Congress,  of  each  of  the 
seceding  States,  had  resigned  their  positions,  except  Mr.  Bouligney 
of  Louisiana.  He  occupied  his  seat  until  the  expiration  of  his  term 
on  tlie  4th  of  March,  186L  The  delegates  or  deputies  of  the 
"Sovereign  and  independent  States  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,"  then  proceeded  to 
ordain  and  establish  a  Constitution  for  the  Provisional  Government 
of  the  same. 

On  Saturday  the  9th  of  February,  1861,  the  first  Congress  of 
the  Confederate  States  of  America  was  organized,  the  president 
and  each  member  taking  the  following  oath:  "You  do  solemnly 
swear  that  you  will  support  the  Constitution  for  the  Provisional 
Government  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  so  help  you  God." 

The  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America  then  pro- 
ceeded to  elect  a  President  and  Vice  President  for  the  Provisional 
Government.  The  vote  being  taken  by  States,  Hon.  Jefferson  Davis 
of  Mississippi  was  unanimously  elected  President;  and  Hon.  Alex- 
ander Hamilton  Stephens  of  Georgia,  was  unanimously  elected  Vice 
President  of  the  Provisional  Government.  And  on  the  18th  day 
of  February,  1861,  the  inauguration  of  Jefferson  Davis  as  President 
and  Alexander  H.  Stephens  as  Vice  President  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America  took  place.  At  an  early  date  President  Davis 
announced  his  cabinet  as  follows:  Secretary  of  State,  Robert 
Toombs,  of  Georgia;  Secretary  of  Treasury,  Christopher  G.  Mem- 
minger,  of  South  Carolina;  Postmaster  General,  John  H.  Reagan, 
of  Texas ;  Secretary  of  Navy,  Stephen  R.  Mallory,  of  Florida ; 
Attorney  General,  Judah  P.  Benjamin,  of  Louisiana. 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


599 


CHAPTER  IV. 


VIRGINIA   HOLDS   CONVENTION   AND  SP:CEDES   FROM   UNION. 

In  the  meantime  Governoi-  John  Letcher,  of  Virginia,  who  was 
as  conservative  in  his  opinions  on  the  question  of  secession  as 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  became  greatly  disturbed;  and  he  called 
the  General  Assembly  in  extra  session,  to  meet  on  the  7th  of 
January,  1861.  Upon  the  recommendation  of  Governor  Letcher, 
the  General  Assembly,  on  the  11th  of  January,  one  week  after  it 
assembled,  passed  an  act  which  provided  for  electing  members  of 
a  convention  to  consider  the  grave  questions  that  confronted  the 
country.  This  act  required  a  poll  to  be  opened  "to  take  the  sense 
of  the  qualified  voters  as  to  whether  any  action  of  said  convention 
dissolving  our  connection  with  the  Federal  Lnion  or  changing  the 


Major  William  P.  Cecil,  son  of  Samuel  Cecil  and  uncle  of  the 
author,  was  bom  on  the  Clinch,  April  9th,  1820,  and  died  on  New 
River  at  the  mouth  of  Walker's  Creek,  July  12th,  1899.  For  a  number 
of  years  he  was  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  Tazewell  County,  as  a 
lawyer  and  in  an  official  capacity.  He  served  several  tei-ms  as  Com- 
monwealth's Attorney;  was  one  of  the  delegates  that  represented  the 
county  in  the  Virginia  Secession  Convention  in  1861;  and  represented 
the  county  in.  the  House  of  Delegates  at  the  sessions  of  1874  and 
1875  and  1876  and  1877 — the  Legislature  then  met  annually.  In  the 
Civil  War,  he  was  first  captain  of  a  company  in  the  22nd  Battalion, 
Virginia  Infantry,  and  was  promoted  to  major  of  the  battalion. 


600 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


organic  law  of  the  State,  shall  be  submitted  to  the  people  for  rati- 
fication or  rejection."  The  election  for  delegates  was  held  on  the 
4th  of  February,  1861,  and  the  question  submitted  to  the  people 
was  decided  affirmatively  b}'  a  large  majority.  One  hundred  and 
fifty  delegates  were  elected,  apportioned  among  the  various  counties 
and  cities  of  the  State.  Tazewell  Count}',  and  Buchanan  and 
McDowell  counties  that  had  not  been  separated  fi-om  Tazewell  by 
legislative  apportionment,  elected  William  P.  Cecil  and  Samuel  L. 


Judge  Samuel  Livingston  Graham  was  born  September  19th,  1816, 
and  died  April  12th,  1896.  In  early  life  he  was  clerk  of  the  courts  of 
Tazewell  County;  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Secession  Convention 
of  1861;  captain  of  a  reserve  company  from  Tazewell  County,  and 
was  engaged  with  his  company  in  tlie  battle  of  Saltyille,  Virginia,  in 
October,  1864.  He  was  judge  of  the  county  court  for  the  counties  of 
Buchanan  and  Wise;  and  United  States  Marshal  for  the  Westem 
District  of  Virginia  during  Mr.  Cleveland's  first  administration. 


Graham  as  their  representatives  in  what  has  since  been  called  the 
"Secession  Convention." 

When  the  convention  assembled  on  the  13th  of  February,  it  was 
found  to  be  largely  composed  of  the  most  prominent  leaders  of  the 
Whig  and  Democratic  parties  in  the  State.  The  author,  then  a  boy 
fourteen  years  old,  was  living  witli  his  parents  in  Richmond,  and 
it  was  my  privilege  to  witness  the  opening  and  org^inization  and 
to  frequently  attend  the  deliberations  of  this  splendid  Convention 
of   Virginians.      I   have   looked   upon   many   legislative    and   other 


and  Southwest  Virginia  601 

deliberative  bodies;  but,  in  all  my  experience,  I  have  never  seen  an 
assembly  of  men,  representing  the  people,  that  surpassed  this  con- 
vention in  ability  and  earnestness  of  purpose.  It  was  manifest 
that  a  large  majority  of  the  members  opposed  withdrawal  from 
the  Union  under  conditions  then  existing. 

On  the  19th  of  February,  1861,  Hon.  John  S.  Preston,  Comr^ 
missioner  from  South  Carolina,  made  his  famous  speech  to  the 
convention.  Mr.  Preston  was  born  at  the  Salt  Works,  in  the  present 
Smyth  County,  Virginia,  and  was  one  of  three  distinguished  sons — 
William  C,  John  S.  and  Thomas  L. — of  General  Francis  Preston. 
I  sat  on  a  step  of  the  rostrum  from  which  he  spoke,  and  heard  him, 
with  burning  eloquence,  make  appeal  for  Virginia  to  go  to  the 
assistance  of  her  endangered  sister  States  of  the  South.  Secession 
sentiment  was  increased  by  Mr.  Preston's  speech;  and  during  the 
weeks  that  followed,  until  the  ordinance  was  passed,  the  question 
was  debated  on  the  floor  of  the  Convention  by  great  Virginia 
statesmen,  ably,  earnestly,  and  sometimes  thrillingly. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  Abraham  Lincoln  was  inaugurated 
President  of  the  United  States.  In  his  inaugural  address,  Mr. 
Lincoln  referred  to  the  apprehension  that  existed  "among  the 
people  of  the  Southern  States  that  by  the  accession  of  a  Republican 
Administration  their  property  and  their  peace  and  personal  security 
are  to  be  endangered."  He  gave  assurance  that  "There  has  never 
been  any  reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension;"  and  this  assur- 
ance was  reinforced  by  quoting  an  utterance  made  in  one  of  his 
speeches  when  a  candidate:  "I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, to  interfere  with  tlie  institution  of  slavery  in  the  States 
where  it  exists.  I  believe  I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so.  and  I 
have  no  inclination  to  do  so." 

But,  Mr.  Lincoln,  announced  his  purpose  to  "preserve,  protect 
and  defend"  the  Government.  He  declared:  "The  Government 
will  not  assail  you.  You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  your- 
selves the  aggressors."  These  words  were  addressed  to  his  dis- 
satisfied countrymen  at  the  South.  The  members  of  the  Virginia 
Convention,  after  reading  these  utterances  of  the  President,  were 
hopeful  that  the  disturbing  questions  might  still  be  amicably 
adjusted.  So  believing,  on  the  8th  of  April,  the  Convention  adopted 
a  resolution  creating  a  committee  of  three  to  wait  upon  the  Presi- 
dent; "and  to  respectfully  ask  of  him  to  communicate  to  this  con- 


602  History  of  Tazewell  County 

vention  the  policy  which  the  Federal  executive  intends  to  pursue 
in  regard  to  the  Confederate  States."  It  was  a  committee  com- 
posed of  three  very  eminent  men;  William  Ballard  Preston,  of  Mont- 
gomery County;  Alexander  H.  H.  Stuart,  of  Augusta,  and  George 
W.  Randolph,  of  the  city  of  Richmond. 

The  committee  went  to  Washington  on  the  12th  of  April,  and 
the  President  received  them  on  the  morning  of  the  13th.  Unfor- 
tunately for  the  peaceful  mission  of  the  committee,  on  the  day  of 
their  arrival  at  Washington  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter  was 
commenced  by  General  G.  T.  Beuregaurd  and  war  had  actually 
begun.  The  President  handed  the  committee  a  written  reply  to  the 
preamble  and  resolution  of  the  Virginia  Convention,  in  which  he 
said: 

"The  power  confided  to  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and 
possess  the  property  and  places  belonging  to  the  government,  and 
to  collect  the  duties  and  imposts;  but  beyond  what  is  necessary  for' 
these  objects  there  will  be  no  invasion — no  using  of  force  against 
or  among  the  people  anywhere.     *     *     *     * 

"But  if,  as  now  appears  to  be  true,  in  pursuit  of  a  purpose  to 
drive  the  United  States  authorities  from  these  places,  an  unprovoked 
assault  has  been  made  upon  Fort  Sumter,  I  shall  hold  myself  at 
liberty  to  repossess,  if  I  can,  J  ike  places  which  had  been  seized 
before  the  government  was  devolved  upon  me.  And  in  any  event 
I  shall  to  the  extent  of  mj'  ability  repel  force  by  force." 

Two  days  after  sending  his  reply  to  the  Virginia  Convention, 
President  Lincoln  issued  his  eventful  proclamation  calling  forth 
the  militia  of  the  several  States  of  the  Union  to  the  aggregate  num- 
ber of  75,000.  This  was  done  to  carry  out  the  policy  he  had 
announced  in  his  reply  to  the  resolution  of  inquiry  sent  from  the 
Virginia  Convention.  A  requisition  was  made  upon  the  Governor 
of  Virginia  for  her  quota  of  militia  under  the  proclamation.  Gov- 
ernor Letcher  immediately  issued  a  proclamation  declaring  that 
Virginia  would  not,  under  any  circumstances,  supply  troops  to  aid 
in  any  manner  in  any  assault  upon  the  Southern  States. 

Following  these  important  incidents  the  Convention  went  into 
secret  sessions ;  and,  after  sitting  several  days  with  closed  doors, 
on  the  17th  of  April,  1861,  adopted  an  ordinance  which  repealed 
the  ratification  of  the  Federal  Constitution  by  the  State  of  Virginia, 
and  resumed  all  the  rights  and  powers  granted  by  the  State  to  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  603 

Federal  Government.  The  ordinance  required  that  the  question 
should  be  submitted  to  the  people  on  the  following  fourth  Thursday 
in  May  for  ratification  or  rejection.  An  election  was  held  on  that 
day,  and  the  action  of  the  Convention  was  endorsed  by  a  very  large 
majority  of  the  votes  cast  at  tlie  election. 

The  secret  sessions  of  tlie  Convention,  held  before  the  ordinance 
was  adopted  and 'promulgated,  were  marked  with  very  able  and 
lieated  discussions  of  the  secession  question.  There  was  a  strong  anti- 
secession  sentiment  prevailing  among  the  members,  as  was  sliown 
by  their  votes  when  the  ordinance  was  put  upon  its  final  passage. 
It  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  88  to  55.  The  minority  was  made  up  of 
a  number  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the  Commonwealth. 
Among  these  were:  Alexander  H.  H.  Stuart,  John  B.  Baldwin. 
Edmund  Pendleton,  William  McComas,  Jubal  A.  Early,  Robert  Y. 
Conrad,  James  Marshall,  Williams  C.  Wickam,  John  S.  Carlile, 
Alfred  M.  Barbour,  George  W.  Summers,  John  Janney,  who  was 
President  of  the  Convention;  Waitman  T.  Willej^,  Sherrard  Clem- 
mens,  Samuel  McD.  Moore,  John  F.  Lewis,  Algernon  S.  Gray, 
William  White,  J.  G.  Holladay,  and  others. 

The  men  who  represented  the  counties  that  constitute  the  present 
Ninth  Congressional  District  of  Virginia  in  the  Convention  were 
as  follows:  Lee — John  D.  Sharp;  Lee  and  Scott — Peter  C.  John- 
ston; Scott— Colbert  C.  Fuqua;  Russell  and  Wise— William  B. 
Aston;  Tazewell  and  Buchanan — William  P.  Cecil  and  Samuel  L. 
Graham;  Washington— Robert  E.  Grant  and  John  A.  Campbell; 
Smyth— James  W.  Sheffey;  Wythe— Robert  C.  Kent;  Pulaski— 
Benjamin  F.  Wysor;  Giles — Manillius  Chapman.  Three  of  these — 
Mr.  Sharp  of  Lee,  Mr.  Fuqua  of  Scott,  and  Mr.  Grant  of  Washing- 
ton— voted  against  the  ordinance;  but  Mr.  Grant  changed  his  vote 
to  the  affirmative.  The  other  members  from  this  district — nine  in 
number— -voted  for  the  ordinance. 

Governor  Letcher  took  prompt  steps  for  organizing  and  mobiliz- 
ing the  military  forces  of  Virginia.  A  number  of  well-trained 
volunteer  companies  were  already  in  existence  in  the  various  cities 
and  counties  of  the  State,  and  these  were  quickly  mustered  into  ser- 
vice. The  governor,  on  the  22nd  of  April,  nominated  Colonel 
Robert  E.  Lee  to  be  Commander  of  the  military  and  naval  forces  of 
Virginia,  with  the  rank  of  major  general.  The  nomination  was 
confirmed  by  the  Convention;  and  on  the  following  day,  the  23rd, 


604  History  of  Tazewell  County 

the  great  military  cliieftain  appeared  and  was  introduced  to  tlie 
august  body  by  John  Janney,  the  venerable  President,  in  a  sjjeech 
that  presaged  tlie  fame  that  Lee  would  win  in  the  four  years  that 
followed.  General  Lee  s  response  to  the  beautiful  remarks  of  Mr. 
Janney  was  brief  and  characteristic.  He  said:  "Mr.  President 
and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — Profoundly  impressed  with  the 
solemnity  of  the  occasion,  for  which  I  must  say  1  was  not  prepared, 
I  accept  the  position  assigned  by  your  partiality.  I  would  have 
much  preferred  had  your  choice  fallen  on  an  abler  man.  Trusting 
in  Almighty  God,  an  approving  conscience,  and  the  aid  of  mj-  fel- 
low-citizens, I  devote  myself  to  the  service  of  my  native  State,  in 
whose  behalf  alone,  will  I  ever  again  draw  my  sword." 

A  temporary  union  of  Virginia  with  the  Confederate  States 
was  effected  through  Commissioners  appointed  b}'  the  Convention, 
and  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  Commissioner  for  the  Confederacy. 
And  on  the  25th  of  April  an  ordinance  was  jDassed  adopting  the 
Constitution  of  the  Provisional  Govei'nment  of  the  Confederate 
States ;  and  this  ordinance  was  not  to  be  effective  until  and  unless 
the  Ordinance  of  Secession  was  ratified  by  the  voters  of  Virginia. 
Later,  a  resolution  was  jjassed  inviting  the  President  of  the  Con- 
federate States,  and  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  Confederacy, 
to  make  the  city  of  Richmond,  or  some  other  place  in  this  State,  the 
seat  of  government  of  the  Confederac}'.  Alexander  H.  Stephens, 
Vice  President  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  says  in  his 
History  of  the  United  States:  "On  the  21st  of  May,  after  the 
secession  of  Virginia,  the  seat  of  government  of  the  Confederate 
States  was  transferred  to  Richmond,  the  capital  of  that  State." 

TJius  did  a  convention,  composed  of  the  most  eminent  men  of 
the  Commonwealth,  separate  Virginia  from  the  United  States  of 
America  and  identify  its  hopes  and  fortunes  with  the  Confederate 
States. 

I  have  undertaken  to  relate  as  briefly  as  possible  the  most 
potent  factors  that  forced  a  dismemberment  of  the  Union,  and  the 
consequent  four  years  of  tragic  strife  between  the  sections.  This, 
I  believed,  was  necessary  before  telling  what  the  people  of  Taze- 
well did  as  their  part  in  the  Civil  War. 

If  one  cares  to  search  for  the  causes  of  the  war  between  the 
States,  they  can  surely  be  found  in  the  series  of  events  that  attended 
the  agitation  of  the  slaver}'  question — beginning  with  the  Missouri 


and  Southwest  Virginia  605 

question  in  1818,  and  culminating  in  the  Presidential  election  of 
1860.  To  whom  shall  be  alloted  the  fearful  responsibility  of 
originating  the  causes  that  pi-ovoked  the  terrible  catastrophe?  This, 
up  to  the  present  time,  has  been  largely  a  matter  of  individual  or 
sectional  opinion.  Conservative  thought  may,  possibly,  eventually 
find  that  the  fault  was  dual — divided  equally  between  the  fanatical 
Abolitionists  of  the  North  and  the  uncompromising  slaveholders  of 
the  South.  The  Abolitionists  so  abhored  slavery  that  they  violated 
the  Constitution,  defied  the  decrees  of  the  highest  judicial  tribunal 
of  the  Government,  and  employed  the  most  barbarous  agencies  for 
its  abolition.  And  its  extreme  advocates  at  the  South  claimed,  as 
did  John  C.  Calhoun,  that  slavery  was  a  benevolent  institution  and 
should  be  perpetuated.  Others  at  the  South  contended  that  its 
economic  value  transcended  all  questions  of  morality  and  righteous- 
ness. From  these  two  extremes  there  was  developed  an  irrepressible 
conflict  that  could  not  be  concluded  except  by  war. 


606  History  of  Tazewell  County 


CHAPTER  V. 

WHAT    TAZEWELL    DID    IN    THE    WAR. 

There  was  practically  no  difference  of  opinion  among  the  people 
of  Tazewell  as  to  what  they  ought  to  do  in  the  conflict  between  the 
North  and  the  South.  At  the  election  held  for  ratification  of  the 
Ordinance  of  Secession  the  vote  of  the  county  was  practically  unan- 
imous for  ratification  of  the  ordinance.  This  attitude  was  not 
evoked  by  a  desire  to  extend  or  perpetuate  slavery.  According  to 
the  census  of  1860,  the  entire  population  of  the  county,  after  the 
formation  of  Buchanan  and  McDowell  counties,  had  been  reduced 
to  9,920  souls.  Of  this  number  8,625  were  white  persons,  1,202 
were  negro  slaves,  and  93  free  negroes.  There  were  not  more  than 
two  or  three  hundred  slave-owners  in  the  county. 

From  the  day  that  Tazewell  became  a  political  unit  of  the  State 
of  Virginia  and  of  the  Federal  Union,  the  people  of  the  county  had 
remained  steadfast  in  their  devotion  to  the  political  creed  of  Thomas 
Jefferson.  They  were  thoroughly  indoctrinated  with  his  theories 
of  States-Rights  and  Local  Self -Government.  Hence,  when  the 
North  undertook  to  violate  the  constitutional  and  reserved  rights 
of  the  Southern  States,  the  men  of  Tazewell  stood  heartily  with 
Virginia  in  her  resolute  support  of  the  Southern  people.  It  was 
not  to  extend  or  perpetuate  slavery  that  Tazewell  sent  two  thousand 
of  her  devoted  sons  to  do  service  for  the  "Lost  Cause." 

The  sublime  spirit  that  animated  the  Clinch  Valley  pioneers  to 
defend  their  homes  and  loved  ones  from  assaults  made  by  the  sav- 
age red  foe,  and  to  do  much  splendid  service  for  their  country  on 
numerous  battle  fields  while  fighting  Great  Britain's  red-coated 
veterans  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  was  reawakened  in  the 
breasts  of  their  descendants  when  the  tocsin  of  war  was  sounded  in 
1861.  Immediately  following  the  withdrawal  of  Virginia  from  the 
LTnion,  volunteer  companies  were  rapidly  organized  in  Tazewell 
County,  so  rapidly  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  supply  them 
with  equipments  for  service.  But  this  did  not  stay  the  ardor  of 
the  brave  and  eager  men  of  Tazewell.  Most  of  the  men  and  boys 
of  the  county  had  guns  of  their  own,  and  they  knew  how  to  use  them 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


607 


quite  as  well  as  did  theii*  pioneer  aneestors.  Man}  of  the  soldiers 
went  to  the  front  armed  with  their  own  guns  and  pistols,  and  the 
cavalrymen  furnished  their  own  horses.  Twenty  companies — ten 
of  infantry  and  ten  of  cavalry — did  valiant  service  for  the  Con- 
federacy. 

Bodies  of  Confederate  troops  were  on  several  occasions  encamped 
in  the  county  while  the  war  was  going  on.  The  first  of  these  was 
a  small  army  under  the  command  of  General  Humphrey  Marshall, 
of  Kentucky,  that  camped  in  the  spring  of  1862  east  of  the  county 


Captain  William  Edward  Peery,  son  of  'Squire  Thomas  Peery, 
and  grandson  of  William  Peery  the  pioneer,  was,  possibly,  the  most 
universally  beloved  man  that  Tazewell  County  ever  produced.  He  was 
bom  July  7th,  1829,- and  died  March  15th,  1895.  It  can  be  safely  said 
that  he  lived  and  died  without  an  enemy  on  earth.  His  home  was  the 
centre  of  the  lavish  hospitality  for  which  Tazewell  in  his  day  was  so 
noted.  He  M-as  educated  at  Emory  and  Henry  College,  and  was  a 
man  of  fine  literary  taste  and  attainments.  The  first  year  of  the 
Civil  War  he  served  on  the  staff  of  Gen.  Jno.  B.  Floyd.  In  the  spring 
of  1862  he  became  lieutenant  of  a  company  of  cavalry,  of  which  com- 
pany the  gallant  Col.  W.  L.  Graham  was  captain.  This  company  was 
attached  to  the  16th  Virginia  Cavalry  Regiment  in  the  fall  of  1862, 
and  he  was  made  captain.  On  the  retreat  from  Gettysburg  he  lost  his 
right  ami  and  was  made  a  pnsoner  at  the  battle  of  Boonesboro,  Md.,  in 
June,  1863.  He  was  imprisoned  at  Johnson's  Island  until  March,  1865, 
when  he  was  exchanged,  and  returned  home  after  an  absence  of  two 
years.  Captain  Peery  would  never  accept  a  public  office,  though  often 
solicited  by  his  friends  to  stand  as  a  candidate.  However,  he  held  and 
expressed  decided  and  intelligent  convictions  on  all  public  questions, 
and  had  much  to  do  with  shaping  the  political  and  economic  thought 
of  the  people  of  the  county. 


608 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


seatj  then  Jett'ersonville.  General  INIarsliall  liad  his  headquarters  at 
the  home  of  the  late  Captain  Wm.  E.  Perr}',  and  most  of  his  men 
were  quartered  on  Captain  Peery's  farm.  His  army  was  composed 
of  the  5th  Kentucky  Infantry,  commanded  by  Colonel  A.  J.  May; 
54th  Virginia  Infantry,  under  Colonel  Trigg;  29th  Virginia  Infan- 


This  old  walnut  tree  is  one  of  the  most  noted  trees  in  Tazewell 
County.  It  stands  near  the  west  end  of  the  residence  of  the  late 
Capt.  Wm.  E.  Peery;  and  many  hundreds  of  his  friends  were  greeted 
and  socially  entertained  by  him  under  its  delightfully  refreshing- 
screen.  Tradition  affirms  that  Dr.  Thomas  Dunn  English  wrote  the 
sweetly  pathetic  ballad,  "Ben  Bolt,"  within  the  precincts  of  its  cool 
shadows.  He  certainly  wrote  "The  Logan  Gi'azier,"  one  of  his  poems, 
under  this  tree.  Dr.  English  was  then  sojourning  in  Tazewell  and 
was  frequently  the  guest  of  Captain  Peery. 

try,  under  Colonel  Moore;  a  small  battalion  of  infantry,  com- 
manded by  Major  Dunn;  a  battalion  of  Kentucky  cavalry,  under 
Colonel  Bradley;  and  a  battery  of  artillery,  commanded  by  Cap- 
tain Jeffries.  General  Marshall  had  been  ordered  to  assemble  these 
forces  at  Tazewell  to  co-operate  with  General  Henry  Heath,  who 


and  Southwest  Virginia  609 

was  stationed  at  JJublin,  in  Pulaski  County,  and  Colonel  Gabriel  C. 
Wharton  who  was  encamped  at  Wytlicvillc  with  his  regiment,  the 
51st  Virginia  Infantrj\  The  three  commands — jMarshaH's,  Heath's, 
and  Wharton's — did  co-operate  in  May,  18G2,  against  the  Federal 
army  under  General  Cox  that  was  advancing  up  New  River,  aiming 
to  reach  the  Virginia  and  Tennessee  Railroad,  now  tlie  Norfolk  & 
Western  Railway.  General  Marshall  had  made  a  fine  record  in 
the  Mexican  W'ar,  but  in  the  operation  against  Cox  he  showed  such 
inefficiency  tliat  he  had  to  retire  from  active  military  service. 

Tile  next  body  of  men  tliat  encamped  for  a  season  in  the  county 
was  a  battalion  of  Georgia  artillery.  There  were  three  or  four 
companies  and  it  was  a  splendid  body  of  men.  They  camped  here 
during  the  winter  of  1862-63,  and  came  more  especially  to  get  sup- 
plies of  food  for  the  men  and  feed  for  their  horses,  there  still  being 
an  abundance  of  grain,  hay,  and  meat  in  the  county.  The  encamp- 
ment was  made  in  a  basin  at  the  Iiead  of  a  hollow  just  west  of 
the  present  fine  orchard  of  Samuel  C.  Peery,  on  land  then  belonging 
to  the  estate  of  Major  David  Peery,  and  now  owned  by  Ritchie 
Peery.  Comfortable  cabins  were  built  for  the  officers  and  men,  logs 
cut  from  trees  on  the  site  of  the  camp  being  used  for  that  purpose. 
The  place  was  afterwards  called  by  persons  living  in  the  locality 
the  "Georgia  Camp."  It  is  about  two  miles  northeast  of  the  town 
of  Tazewell.  Early  in  the  spring  of  1863  the  Georgians  left 
their  winter  quarters  and  went  South  for  active  service. 

Very  soon  after  the  Georgians  left,  the  45th  Virginia  Battalion 

of  Infantry,  known  as  Beckley's  Battalion,  occupied  the  camp  that 

had  been  vacated.     This  battalion  was  composed  of  four  companies, 

and  was  made  up  almost  entirely  of  men  from  the  border  counties, 

most  of  them  from  Boone  and  Logan.     Several  of  the  Hatfields  and 

McCoys  belonged  to  the  battalion,  Ans.  Hatfield  being  a  lieutenant 

in  one  of  the  comjoanies.     It  was  as  fearless  fighting  body  of  men 

as  could  be  found  in  the  Confederate  service.     Lieutenant  Colonel 

Henry  Beckley,  son  of  General  Alfred  Beckley,  of  Raleigh  County, 

commanded   the    battalion;    Major    Blake   Woodson,    of    Botetourt 

County,  was  second  in  command;  J.  G.  Greenw'ay,  who  afterwards 

became  distinguished  as  a  physician  at  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas,  was 

adjutant;   and  Dr.  Jno.   S.   Pendleton,  brotlier  of  the  autlior,  was 

surgeon.      In  the  spring  of    1864  the  writer  enlisted  as   a  private 

in  Company  A,  which  was  commanded  by  Captain  Stallings,  who 
T.H. — 39 


610 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


was  clerk  of  Logan  County.  At  the  battle  of  Piedmont,  on  the  5th 
of  June,  I86'i>,  the  ISth  Virginia  Regiment  and  the  iSth  Virginia 
Battalion  were  near  each  other  on  tlie  fighting  line,  only  one  regi- 
ment, the  60th  Virginia,  intervening. 

The  Tazewell  men  in  the  'iSth  Regiment  suffered  heavily. 
Colonel  William  Browne  was  mortally  wounded;  Captain  Charles 
A.  Fudge,  was  severely  wounded  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy;  Captain  James  S.  Peery  was  captured,  and  several  other 
men  from  the  county  were  made  prisoners,  among  them  Jesse  White. 


Captain  Charles  A.  Fudge  entei'ed  the  sei-vice  of  the  Confederate 
States  early  in  the  spring  of  1861  as  second  lieutenant  of  Company 
H,  45th  Regiment,  Virginia  Infantry.  And  in  the  spring  of  1862  he 
became  captain  of  the  company.  He  commanded  his  company  in 
numerous  battles;  but  at  the  battle  of  Piedmont,  on  June  5th,  1864, 
he  was  desperately  wounded  and  captured  by  the  Federals.  He  was 
confined  in  prison  until  the  war  ended.  Though  he  lived  to  a  venerable 
age  he  never  recovered  fully  from  the  terrible  wound  received  at 
Piedmont.    He  was  bom  March  7th,  1834,  and  died  November  2nd,  1912. 

General  William  E.  Jones,  who  commanded  the  Confederate  forces, 
was  killed  just  about  the  time  the  Federals  made  a  successful 
breach  in  the  Confederate  lines  and  flanked  the  45th  and  60th 
Regiments,  and  the  45th  Battalion.  Colonel  Beckley  was  wounded 
early  in  the  action,  a  minnie  ball  passing  through  his  left  wrist; 
and  Major  Woodson  was  shot  through  the  left  arm,  between  the 
shoulder  and  elbow\  The  author  was  captured  in  this  battle,  and, 
after  being  a  prisoner  for  two  days,  was  paroled  at  Staunton. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  611 

There  were  other  encampments  of  Confederate  soldiers,  at 
various  times,  in  tJie  county.  Colonel  A.  J.  May  camped  for  a 
time  with  his  Kentuekians  at  Indian,  now  Cedar  Bluff;  and  in  July, 
1863,  he  had  a  small  force  of  cavalry  camping  on  Colonel  Henry 
Bowen's  place  in  the  Cove.  The  16th  Virginia  Cavalry,  commanded 
by  Colonel  William  L.  Graham,  wintered  at  Camp  Georgia  in  the 
winter  of  18(i;]-6'i. 


The  losses  incurred  by  Tazewell  as  a  result  of  the  Civil  War 
were  not  confined  to  those  that  came  from  the  death  and  disablement 
by  wounds  of  so  many  of  her  best  men.  Her  financial  losses  were 
very  heavy.  All  the  coin,  and  paper  money,  of  any  future  value, 
that  was  in  circulation  in  Tazewell  when  the  war  began  had  dis- 
appeared, or  was  valueless,  when  the  struggle  was  over.  Gradually 
but  unceasingly  for  four  years,  the  thousands  of  horses,  cattle, 
sheep  and  hogs,  that  were  owned  by  the  farmers  and  graziers  had 
been  reduced  to  mere  hundreds  by  home  consumption  and  the  gener- 
ous supplies  furnished  the  Confederate  Government.  The  pi-oduc- 
tion  of  grain  in  the  county  was  largely  diminished  by  the  absence 
of  so  many  men  who  had  been  actively  engaged  in  farming  before 
they  became  soldiers.  But  the  old  men  and  the  boys  labored  faith- 
fully, and  enough  grain  was  produced  to  feed  all  the  people  at  home 
and  to  furnish  considerable  quantities  to  outsiders  in  exchange  for 
depreciated  Confederate  money.  The  faithful  negro  slaves  also 
toiled  on  uncomplainingly,  and  did  their  part  nobly  in  caring  for  the 
wives  and  children  of  their  masters  and  the  families  of  the  soldiers 
who  had  no  slaves.  Nothing  more  worthy  of  commendation  trans- 
pired during  the  Civil  War  than  the  faithful  service  performed  by 
the  slaves  in  Tazewell  County.  In  proportion  to  their  condition  and 
ojjportunity  they  did  as  excellent  service  as  the  gallant  men  who 
fought  for  the  Confederacy. 

Too  much  cannot  be  said  in  praise  of  the  splendid  service 
rendered  by  the  good  women  of  Tazewell  while  the  war  was  in 
progress.  There  were  no  Red  Cross  organizations  in  the  county, 
and  none  anywhere  in  the  South,  to  do  such  work  as  was  performed 
by '  the  Red  Cross  organizations  in  the  recent  World  War.  But 
every  precious  mother  and  daughter  of  Tazewell  while  the  States 
of  the  Union  were  engaged  in  fratricidal  strife  was  in  herself  an 


612 


History  of  Tazowell  County 


impersonation  of  the  modern  Red  Cross  heroine.  They  could  not 
go  to  the  battle  grounds  to  attend  the  wounded  and  dying;  but 
at  home  they  were  one  in  thought  aiul  purpose  to  do  all  they  could 
for  the  comfort  of  the  men  who  were  iTiarching,  fighting  and  dying 
for  the  cause  they  loved. 

The  old  spinning  wheels  and  looms  were  brought  from  the 
garrets  and  luuiber-rooms  and  put  into  active  use.  During  the 
last  two  years  of  the  war,  in  18(53  and  18(M',  it  was  very  seldom 
that  fabrics   of  anv   kind   suitable   for  clothing,   either   for  men   or 


The  above  picture  is  reproduced  from  a  daguerreotype  made  at 
Lynchburg,  Va.,  in  March.  1864.  I  am  using  it  to  show  the  excellent 
quality  of  the  woolen  cloth  woven  by  the  good  women  of  Southwest 
Virginia  to  supply  their  boys  and  kindred  with  clothing  while  they 
were  fighting  for  the  "Lost  Cause."  At  the  right  of  the  picture  is 
the  author,  dressed  in  a  suit  which  was  made  from  jeans  woven  by 
his  aunt,  Mrs.  Kate  Cecil  Peery.  On  the  left  is  my  brother.  Dr.  Jno. 
S.  Pendleton,  and  he  is  clothed  in  a  suit  of  jeans  for  which  our  mother 
wove  the  cloth.  My  brother  was  surgeon  of  the  45th  Battalion,  Vir- 
ginia Infantry,  and  I  was  a  private  in  Company  A  of  the  same  bat- 
talion. This  is  the  only  picture  of  a  Confederate  soldier  clothed  in 
jeans  I  have  ever  seen,  and  that  is  why  I  use  it  here. 

women,  except  such  as  were  manufactured  at  home,  were  obtainable. 
All  the  country  stgres  were  closed,  because  the  merchants  could 
not  buy  any  goods  to  continue  business ;  and  the  stocks  of  the  two 
or  three  stores  that  tried  to  continue  business  in  Jeffersonville 
would  hardly  have  made  a  load  for  a  four-horse  wagon. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  613 

Nearly  all  the  farmers,  large  and  small,  had  flocks  of  sheep 
which  they  carefully  conserved,  and  the  cultivation  of  flax  was 
resumed.  In  this  way  enougli  raw  matei'ial  was  produced  in  the 
county,  when  used  with  cotton  thread,  to  provide  ample  clothing 
for  the  people  at  home,  and  keep  the  soldiers  from  Tazewell  ooai- 
fortabh'  clad.  JJales  of  cotton  thread  were  procured  from  Nortli 
Carolina  mills  and  used  for  chains  in  the  v/ebs  of  jeans,  linsey,  and 
flannel  that  the  women  skilfully  wove  on  their  hand-looms. 

There  were  no  commercial  dyestufls  then  procurable.  The 
daughters  of  Tazewell  had  not  only  inherited  their  skill  as  weavers, 
but  had  retained  the  ingenuity  and  adaptability  to  conditions  that 
made  the  pioneer  mothers  pre-eminent.  They  found  in  the  forests 
and  gardens  vegetable  dyes,  from  which  they  got  very  pleasing 
color  effects.  The  colors  were  not  as  brilliant  as  those  produced 
by  the  modern  chemical  dyes,  but  they  were  satisfactory.  Black 
and  white  walnut  bark,  hickory  bark,  sumac  berries,  wild  indigo 
plants,  and  madder  roots  grown  in  the  gardens,  were  the  chief 
materials  used.  The  colors  produced  from  these  were  black,  brown, 
blue,  red,  and  sometimes  by  making  two  separate  colorings  a  very 
pretty  green  eifect  was  gotten.  The  linsey  gowns  worn  by  the  girls 
and  the  jeans  coats  and  pants  of  the  men  and  boys  were  neat  and 
comfortable. 

FEDERAL    RAIDS    THROUGH    TAZEWELL 

Tazewell's  isolated  location  was  a  great  protection  against 
devastations  by  Federal  armies  while  the  war  was  going  on.  There 
were  no  permanent  or  even  temporary  occupations  of  any  section 
of  the  county  by  the  enem}- ;  but  there  were  four  invasions  by 
raiding  parties,  three  of  which  were  made  by  large  forces.  All  of 
the  raiders  came  hj  the  same  routes  the  Indians  travelled  when 
they  made  their  murderous  forays  to  the  Upper  Clinch  settlements. 
Three  of  them  came  up  tlie  Tug  Fork,  and  one  the  Louisa  Fork  of 
Big  Sandy  River. 

toland's  raid. 

In  July,  1863,  Brevet  Brigadier  General  John  Toland.  in  com- 
mand of  about  one  thousand  Federal  cavalry,  suddenly  invaded 
Tazewell  County.  He  came  up  Tug  River  and  entered  Abb's  Val- 
ley on  the  afternoon  of  July  15th,  crossed  Stony  Ridge  and  camped 


614 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


that  night  on  Mrs.  Susan  Hawthorne's  place  about  midway  between 
the  present  residence  of  Mrs.  Henry  S.  Bowen  and  the  old  Charles 
Taylor  place,  which  is  about  half  a  mile  west  of  Mrs.  Bowen's 
house.  At  daybreak  on  the  morning  of  the  16th,  Toland  resumed 
liis  march.  Some  of  his  men  burned  Lain's  mill,  which  stood  on  the 
site  now  occupied  by  Witten's  mill.  For  some  reason  the  Federals 
applied  the  torch  to  and  totally  destroyed  Kiah  Harman's  dwelling, 
wliich  stood  about  one-fourth  of  a  mile  north  of  the  Round  House. 


General  Toland  camped  about  three  hundred  yards  west  of  the 
beautiful  home  of  Mrs.  Henry  S.  Bowen,  shown  above,  and  situated 
seven  miles  northeast  of  the  court  house.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
atti'active  of  the  many  lovely  homes  in  Tazewell  County. 


Just  after  sunrise  the  head  of  the  column  arrived  at  Captain 
Wm.  E.  Peerj^'s,  one  and  a  half  miles  east  of  the  court  house. 
Thomas  Ritchie  Peery,  brother  of  Captain  Peery,  Samuel  L. 
Graham,  John  Hambrick,  and  the  author,  the  latter  then  sixteen 
years  old,  were  sitting  in  Mrs.  Peery's  room,  waiting  to  get  their 
breakfast,  which  was  being  hastily  prepared.  We^  had  left  our 
guns  on  the  porch  at  the  back  of  the  room  in  which  we  were  sitting. 
The  floor  of  the  porch  was,  as  it  now  is,  on  a  level  with  the  ground, 
and  paved  with  brick.     Suddenlv  two  Yankee  cavalrvmen  rode  on 


and  Southwest  Virginia  615 

to  the  ponh  and  picked  up  our  guns;  and  the  house  was  then 
completely  surrounded  by  troopers, 

Mr.  Graham  and  Mr.  Hambrick  slipped  out  into  the  hall  and 
went  into  the  ell  part  of  the  house,  which  Mr.  Hambrick,  as 
manager  of  the  Peery  farm,  was  then  occupying  with  his  family. 
By  a  clever  ruse,  Graham  and  Hambrick  avoided  being  made 
prisoners.  Mr.  Hambrick  went  quickly  to  bed,  pretending  to  be 
sick,  and  Mr,  Graham  assumed  the  role  of  his  physician.  When 
a  couple  of  troopers  entered  the  room  Mr.  Graham  was  feeling 
Hambrick's  pulse,  and  told  the  intruders  he  was  a  very  sick  man, 
urging  them  to  retire  as  a  shock  might  kill  the  patient.  The  trick 
was  successful,  as  the  kind-hearted  soldiers  promptly  left  the  room. 

In  the  meantime  Tom  Ritchie  Peery,  who  was  then  nineteen 
j-ears  old,  and  the  writer,  who  was  sixteen,  had  been  ordered  to 
join  a  bunch  of  prisoners  that  were  out  in  the  barn  lot.  There 
were  some  fifteen  or  twenty  youths  and  old  men,  who  had  been  cap- 
tured along  the  line  of  march  from  the  head  of  the  Clinch. 

General  Toland  was  moving  his  force  very  rapidly  so  as  to 
reach  Wytheville  as  quickly  as  possible ;  and  his  men  did  not  have 
much  opportunity  to  plunder  houses  on  the  line  of  march.  They 
took  eight  or  ten  horses  from  the  Peery  farm,  among  them  two  fine 
dapple  iron-gray  mares  that  belonged  to  Mr.  Hambrick.  Only 
two  horses  were  left  on  the  place.  One  of  these  was  "Bill", 
'Squire  Tommie  Peery's  old  riding  horse,  over  twenty  years  old;  and 
the  other  a  beautiful  young  sorrel  horse  my  grandfather  Cecil  had 
given  me.  The  Yankees  couldn't  catch  old  Bill  and  my  horse. 
These  two  horses  jumped  fences  and  ran  into  the  brush  at  the  west 
end  of  Buckhorn  Mountain. 

There  were  several  boxes  of  old  Kentucky  rifles  in  the  granary, 
that  had  been  left  there  by  General  Marshall's  men  in  1862.  The 
guns  were  brought  from  the  granary,  broken  up  and  piled  witli 
jDieces  of  wood,  and  burned.  Some  of  the  guns  were  still  loaded, 
and  as  the  barrels  became  lieated  the  sharp  cracks  of  the  rifles 
made  the  Yankees  scatter.  During  this  time  of  confusion,  the  writer 
quietly  walked  away  from  the  guards  and  slipped  back  into  the 
house,  seated  himself,  and  remained  there  until  all  the  troops  had 
passed  up  the  road  on  their  march  to  Wytheville.  The  other 
prisoners  were  taken  as  far  as  Burke's  Garden  and  were  there 
paroled.      While   passing   through    the   Garden,    a    storehouse   that 


616 


History  of  Tazewell  Couny 


belonged  to  D.  Harold  Peery  was  set  on  fire  by  the  raiders  and 
destroyed.  It  was  where  the  late  Henry  Groseclose  had  his  store. 
About  10  o'clock  the  morning  of  the  16th,  some  four  hours  after 
Toland's  men  passed,  Colonel  A.  J.  May,  who  was  camping  with 
a  small  force  of  Confederates  on  Colonel  Henry  Bowen's  place 
in  the  Cove,  passed  Captain's  Peery's  with  about  fifty  mounted 
men  in  pursuit  of  Toland.  Colonel  May  was  riding  rapidly  at  tlie 
head   of  the   column,   and  was   carrying  a   pennant   or   small   flag. 


Colonel  Andrew  Jackson  May  was  a  Kentuckian  by  birth,  but 
was  so  closely  associated  with  what  transpired  in  Tazewell  County 
during  the  entire  Civil  War,  that  he  made  it  his  future  home,  and  was 
recognized  as  one  of  Tazewell's  Confederate  soldiers.  In  the  spring  of 
1861  he  was  living  at  Prestonsburg,  Kentucky,  and  entered  the  service 
of  the  Confederacy  as  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  5th  Kentucky  Infantry. 
In  the  fall  of  1862  he  organized  the  10th  Kentucky  Cavalry,  and  was 
made  colonel  of  the  regiment.  He  was  its  commander  until  the  war 
closed. 


From  his  manner,  he  seemed  to  say  with  his  flag:  "Follow  me!" 
They  were  following  him  compactly  and  eagerly.  The  Colonel 
was  every  inch  a  soldier,  and  his  men  were  as  fearless  as  their 
leaders.  A  little  later.  Colonel  Vincent  Witcher,  another  daring 
soldier,  passed  Captain  Peery's  with  a  small  force  of  mounted 
men  pursuing  the  Federals.  Colonel  May  and  his  men  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  17th  came  in  contact  with  the  rear  guard  of  Toland's 
forces    at    Stony    Creek,    some   six    miles   northwest    of   Wytheville, 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


617 


where  several   of  tlie   Federals   were   killed,   and,   perhaps,   a   few 
prisoners  taken. 

From  Stony  Creek,  General  Toland  pushed  on  rapidly  to  Wythe- 
ville,  reaching  the  head  of  what  is  now  called  Tazewell  Street  on 
the  17th  of  July,  186;?,  about  ten  o'clock  A.  M.  The  people  of 
Wytheville  had  been  notified  of  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  but 
no  Confederate  troops  were  then  stationed  at  that  point.  There 
was  a  home  guard  organization  of  about  fifty  youths  and  men,  all 


Captain  David  G.  Savers  entered  the  Confederate  army  in  the 
that  was  commanded  by  Captain  Elias  V.  Hamian.  In  the  fall  of  1862, 
spring  of  1862  as  second  lieutenant  of  a  company  of  Partizan  Rangers 
Lieutenant  Sayers  was  made  captain  of  a  company  that  was  attached 
to  the  37th  Battalion  of  Virginia  Cavalry,  known  as  Witcher's  Bat- 
talion. He  was  with  the  detachment  of  Witcher's  men  that  pursued 
Toland's  regiment  when  it  made  its  raid  to  Wytheville.  Captain 
Sayers  was  bom  September  15th,  1840,  and  died  April  12th,  1902. 

of  whom  were  under  or  over  military  age.  A  small  detachment 
of  reserves,  possibly  fifty  in  number,  was  sent  to  their  assistance 
from  a  Confederate  training  camp  at  Dublin,  in  Pulaski  County. 
The  command  of  the  one  hundred  men  was  placed  with  Colonel 
Joseph  L.  Kent.  He  had  entered  the  Confederate  service  as  Captain 
of  the  Wythe  Grays,  in  April,  1861.  That  company  was  a  unit 
of  the  4.th  Virginia  Infantry,  Stonewall  Brigade.  He  had  served 
as  Colonel  of  the  4th  Regiment  in  1862,  but  on  account  of  ill  health 
had  been  forced  to  retire  from  the  service.      Colonel  Kent,  being 


618  History  of  Tazewell  County 

an  experienced  military  man,  made  excellent  disposition  of  his 
small  but  fearless  force.  Some  youths  and  men  concealed  them- 
selves in  and  behind  houses  along  the  east  and  west  side  of  Taze- 
well Street  and  performed  desperate  feats  as  sharpshooters,  or 
snipers,  as  they  are  now  called,  while  the  enemy  was  advancing 
along  that  street. 

For  some  reason  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  invaders  to  fire 
the  town,  or,  at  least,  cei'tain  houses.  At  the  time  it  was  said  or 
thought  that  the  burning  was  done  in  revenge  for  the  killing  of 
Gen.  Toland  by  a  sniper.  He  was  killed  immediately  in  front  of 
the  beautiful  residence  of  Captain  William  Giboney.  which  fronted 
on  Tazewell  Street  and  stood  where  the  High  School  building  is 
now  located.  The  torch  was  api:)lied  to  the  Gibboney  residence, 
and  all  its  valuable  contents  were  destroyed,  except  a  few  articles 
that  were  appropriated  by  the  raiders.  Among  these  articles  was 
a  dictionary  that  fell  into  tlic  hands  of  Captain  Fortcscuc,  who 
was  in  charge  of  the  advance  guard  of  Toland's  ti'oops.  The 
dictionary  was  afterwards  recovered  by  Captain  Gibboney,  and 
on  its  blank  pages  the  following  entry  was  found: 

"Camp  Piatt 
Aug.  1st.  186.'}. 
"This  book  (an  old  Webster's  Dictionary)  was  the  only  article 
saved  from  the  buildings  and  residence  of  Wm.  Gibboney,  in  Wythe- 
ville,  Va.,  destroyed  by  order  of  Brevet  Brigadier  Gen.  John  Toland 
on  the  17th  day  of  July,  1863.  It  was  entrusted  to  Thos.  O'Brian, 
who  in  attempting  to  cross  New  River  was  drawn  under  the  current 
and  drowned — it  was  afterwards  recovered  &  lost  in  a  skirmish — 
&  recaptured  &  carried  to  Wytheville,  where  it  was  again  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemy — &  again  recaptured  &  carried  over  four  hun- 
dred miles  by  the  troops,  being  under  fire  the  entire  trip,  lasting 
nearly  eight  days — &  arrived  at  Gauly  Bridge,  W.  Va.  in  an  almost 
exhausted  condition  and  immediately  engaged  with  Gen'l  McCaus- 
land  of  the  Rebel  army  &  reached  Camp  Piatt  after  15  days  of 
tedious  hardship  &  heavy  loss  of  Men. 

Wm.  H.  Fortescue, 
Capt.  Commanding  Squadron." 

Several  years  after  the  conclusion  of  the  Civil  War,  Mr.  Albert 
H.  Gibboney,  son  of  Captain  Wm.  Gibboney,  received  a  letter  from 
Captain  Fortescue  in  which  he  made  the  following  statements: 


and  Southwest  Virginia  619 

"In  reference  to  vour  Father's  property,  will  say  the  order  to 
burn  it  was  given  to  me  by  Gen.  Toland  in  person.  When  Gen. 
Toland  gave  me  the  order  I  asked  him  if  he  had  better  not  make 
it  written.  He  replied  that  it  coidd  be  done  quicker  than  lie  could 
write  the  order."     Captain  Fortescue  also  wrote  Mr.  Gibboney: 

"I  was  in  charge  of  the  advance  that  entered  WytheviUe  &  had 
as  Junior,  Captain  Delaney-who  was  one  of  the  first  officers 
killed  Gen.  Toland  had  just  ordered  a  sabre  charge  &  Col.  Powell, 
2nd  in  command,  rode  up  &  gave  me  the  order.  I  had  just  given 
the  order  when  Gen.  Toland  was  struck  and  died  instantly.  Col. 
Powell  was  the  next  one  to  fall.  And  though  I  was  afterwards  on 
many  hotly  contested  fields  I  was  never  upon  any  that  was  more  so 
than  WytheviUe." 

The  fighting  began  at  about  10  o'clock,  and  was  continued  for 
about  an  hour.  Of  course  such  a  small  force  of  citizens  and  soldiers 
could  not  successfully  hold  back  one  thousand,  or  more,  splendidly 
armed  and  mounted  men.  The  Federals  by  repeated  charges  forced 
the  Confederates  to  retire  and  scatter;  but  the  enemy  had  been 
defeated  in  their  plans  for  doing  extensive  damage  to  the  railroad. 
As  soon  as  the  Confederates  withdrew,  the  Federals  sent  detach- 
ments towards  the  railroad  station  to  begin  the  work  of  destruction. 
But  they  heard  the  loud  whistling  of  a  locomotive  that  was  pulling 
a  train  from  the  east  and  that  was  approaching  WytheviUe.  They 
thouoht  the  train  was  bringing  Confederate  reinforcements,  and 
made  a  hasty  return  to  the  main  body  of  Toland's  men;  and  the 
demoralized  command  commenced  its  retreat  to  West  Virginia. 

After  setting  fire  to  Captain  Gibboney's  dwelling  the  torch  was 
applied  to  several  houses  on  Tazewell  and  Main  streets.  The  dwell- 
ing and  printing  office  of  David  A.  St.  Clair,  situated  opposite 
Captain  Gibboney's  home,  were  totally  destroyed.  A  storehouse 
on  Main  Street  that  was  used  for  medical  supplies  by  the  Confed- 
erate Government,  and  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  church  on 
Main  Street,  that  stood  a  short  distance  east  of  the  present  Epis- 
copal church,  were  also  burned  down.  The  women  and  children 
in  the  other  houses  that  were  fired,  put  out  the  flames  as  soon  as 
the  Yankees  retired  from  the  buildings.  If  the  Federals  had  not 
retreated  so  hastily  it  is  likely  that  much  more  serious  damage 
would  have  been  done  to  the  town. 


620  History  of  Tazewell  County 

The  Federals'  losses  amounted  to  seven  killed  and  thirty 
wounded.  Among  the  killed  were  General  Toland  and  Captain 
Delaney.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Powell^  second  in  command,  was 
severely  wounded  and  was  made  a  prisoner.  He  was  riding  one  of 
John  Hambricks'  fine  gray  mares  that  had  been  taken  from  Ca}> 
tain  Peerj's  place  on  the  morning  of  the  16th.  The  mare  was 
restored  to  Mr.  Hambrick  a  few  days  thereafter,  being  ridden  from 
Wytheville  by  Colonel  Jas.  F.  Pendleton,  father  of  the  author. 

Tliere  were  onl\'  three  whites  and  one  negro  killed  on  the  Con- 
federate side.  Captain  Oliver  was  mortally  wounded  near  the 
stone  house  on  Tazewell  Street,  then  owned  and  occupied  by  Mrs. 
Haller,  mother  of  the  late  Colonel  Charles  Haller;  and  now  owned 
and  occupied  as  a  residence  by  Miss  Frances  Gibboney  and  her 
sister,  Mrs.  Kate  Campbell.  Pat  Helligan,  an  Irislunan,  was  stand- 
ing in  his  house  and  declined  to  surrender  on  account  of  his 
nationality ;  he  was  shot  and  died  instantly.  Clayton  Cook  was 
mortall}'  wounded,  just  as  he  walked  out  of  Crockett's  Hotel.  He 
was  very  deaf  and  did  not  hear  the  demands  the  Federals  made 
upon  him  to  surrender.  George,  a  faithful  negro  slave  of  ]\Ir. 
Ephraim  McGavock,  was  shot  while  trying  to  save  his  master  from 
capture.  A  number  of  citizens  were  made  prisoners,  among  them 
Colonel  Thos.  J.  Boyd,  Dr.  Gage,  Alfred  Suit,  James  Corvin,  Frank 
Slater,  James  Miller,  Wash  Leshy,  Ephraim  McGavock  and  Robert 
Bailey.  The  prisoners  were  taken  as  far  as  the  top  of  Big  Walker's 
Mountain,  about  ten  miles  northwest  of  Wytheville,  and  there 
released. 

General  Toland  was  shot  through  the  heart  and  expired  instantly. 
It  has  never  been  positively  known  who  fired  the  shot  that  killed 
him.  Some  said  it  was  Bob  Bailey,  a  youth  in  liis  teens,  son  of 
Jesse  Bailey.  Others  said  it  was  Andrew  Parish,  also  a  youth,  who 
fired  the  fatal  shot;  and  still  others  claimed  it  was  a  woman  who 
killed  him.  Well  might  Captain  Fortescue  declare:  "Although 
I  was  afterwards  on  many  hotly  contested  fields,  I  was  never  upon 
any  that  was  more  so  than  Wytheville."  Nothing  more  desperately 
daring  was  done  during  the  Civil  War  than  the  defence  that  was 
made  at  Wytheville  by  the  old  men  and  boys,  and,  possibly,  the 
women  of  the  town. 

The  Federals  were  very  much  demoralized  by  their  experience 
at  Wytheville.     After  arriving  at  the  top  of  Walker's  Mountain, 


and  Southwest  Virginia  621 

instead  of  retreating  by  the  same  route  hy  wliieh  they  liad  advanced, 
they  left  the  turnpike  road  and  went  down  a  mountain  spur  called 
"Ram's  Horn",  and  entered  tlie  valley  in  Bland  County,  and 
turned  their  march  eastward.  When  they  came  to  the  place  of 
William  Stowers  they  turned  their  horses  into  his  wheat  field  and 
entirely  destroyed  his  crop.  From  that  point  they  went  east  as 
far  as  Charles  Grayson's  place.  There  they  turned  back  and  went 
through  the  gap  of  Brushy  Mountain  over  what  is  known  as  the 
Laurel  road,  and  followed  that  road  down  Laurel  Creek  to  Frank 
Suiter's  place  in  the  Hunting  Camp  Valley.  They  stole  all  Mr. 
Suiter's  liorses,  and  followed  a  path  across  Round  Mountain  and 
came  into  the  Wolf  Creek  Valley  at  the  now  Isaac  Stowers  farm. 
Then  they  proceeded  up  Wolf  Creek  to  Crabtree's  Gap,  and  crossed 
Rich  Mountain  into  the  Clear  Fork  Valley.  Turning  down  Clear 
Fork,  they  proceeded  down  the  valley  to  the  Henry  Dill's  place 
at  the  mouth  of  Cove  Creek,  and  turned  up  that  creek.  A  small 
detachment  of  Confederate  soldiers  and  Tazewell  citizens  charged 
upon  the  rear  guard  of  the  Federals  as  they  were  going  up  the 
creek,  killing  several  of  the  enemy,  and  captured  several  men  and 
a  number  of  horses.  The  raiders  crossed  East  River  Mountain 
at  the  George  Gap,  v/hich  is  at  the  southwest  corner  of  the  Walter 
M.  Sanders  farm.  From  thence  they  passed  through  "Pin  Hook" 
(now  Graham),  crossed  the  Stony  Ridge  and  camped  that  night  in 
the  meadows  near  Falls  Mills.  The  next  morning  they  proceeded 
by  way  of  the  mouth  of  Abb's  Valley  to  a  gap  in  the  Laurel  Ridge, 
just  above  the  big  spring.  There  they  were  attacked  by  a  part 
of  the   10th  Kentucky  Cavalry.     In  the  skirmish  two  of  the  Ken- 

tuckians,  Thomas  Fletcher  and Tutz  were  killed;  but  the 

Federal  losses  are  not  known.  Continuing  their  retreat,  the  Fed- 
erals passed  just  east  of  Pocahontas,  and  on  by  way  of  the  Peeled 
Chestnuts;  and  at  last  gained  safety  in  the  mountains  of  West 
Virginia. 

A  very  interesting  incident  occurred  while  the  Federals  were 
retreating,  in  which  a  Tazewell  girl  proved  herself  a  heroine.  A 
Federal  trooper  stopped  at  the  home  of  Jonathan  Hendrickson.  who 
lived  about  two  hundred  yards  west  of  the  present  Graham  furnace. 
He  ordered  his  supper,  which  was  promptly  served  him.  When  he 
arose  from  the  table  he  was  looking  into  the  muzzle  of  his  own 
carbine,  which  was  pointed  at  the  Yankee  by  Miss  Mattie  Hendrick- 


622  History  of  Tazewell  County 

son.  She  politely  told  him  he  was  her  jDi-isoner;  and  she  held  him 
as  such  until  a  squad  of  Confederates  came  along  and  took  him 
in  charge. 

SMALL    RAID    BY    FEDERALS. 

The  second  raid  by  Federals  through  the  county  was  made  by 
a  very  small  detachment.  They  travelled  at  night,  on  foot,  and 
kept  away  from  all  thoroughfares  and  houses.  The  object  of  the 
raid  was  to  get  to  the  Virginia  &  Tennessee  Railroad  near  Marion, 
and  to  destroy  bridges,  burn  depots,  and  so  forth.  This  raid  was 
made  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  1863.  Toland's  unsuccessful 
raid  to  Wytheville  was  made  about  six  weeks  previously.  There 
were  about  twenty-five  or  thirty  men  in  the  second  raid,  and  they 
approached  Tazewell  by  the  Sandy  Valley  route  Jjnd  entered  the 
county  in  the  Horse  Pen  Cove.  There  they  concealed  themselves  to 
await  nightfall,  when  they  would  resume  their  journey  over  ridges 
and  mountains. 

Several  peach  trees,  laden  with  ripe  fruit,  were  standing  about 
a  deserted  cabin  near  where  the  men  were  in  concealment.  Some 
of  the  hungry  men  were  lurd  from  their  hiding  by  the  tempting  red 
peaches.  While  they  were  gathering  and  devouring  the  fruit, 
Charles  Taylor,  who  lived  half  a  mile  northwest  of  Witten's  Mill, 
and  about  the  same  distance  west  of  the  present  residence  of  Mrs. 
Henry  S.  Bowen,  came  suddenly  upon  the  raiders.  Mr.  Taylor 
was  out  looking  for  lost  cattle,  which  he  thought  had  strayed  into 
the  Horse  Pen  Cove.  The  officer  in  command  of  the  expedition 
made  Mr.  Taylor  a  jirisoner;  and  required  him  to  make  oath  that 
he  would  not  reveal  the  presence  of  the  raiding  party  to  anyone, 
which  IMr.  Taylor  faithfully  observed.  Later  on,  they  were  dis- 
covered by  an  old  woman  named  Patsy  Hall,  who  did  weaving  for 
people  in  the  surrounding  neighborhoods.  They  made  Patsy  take 
an  oath  similar  to  that  administered  to  Mr.  Taylor.  She  did  not 
consider  the  oath  binding,  and  forthwith  travelled  to  the  home  of 
Robert  Graham,  who  lived  where  Robert  Tarter  now  resides,  and 
told  Mr.  Graham  and  others  in  the  neighborhood  that  the  Yankees 
were  coming  by  way  of  the  Horse  Pen  Cove.  Of  course  Patsey, 
like  the  old  woman  who  saw  a  thousand  squirrels  in  a  tree,  imagined 
there  were  hundreds  in  the  raiding  party,  and  so  related. 

Runners  were  sent  out  immediately  to  notify  the  people,  just  as 
the  pioneers  were  warned  of  the  approach  of  Indians,  and  before 


and  Southwest  Virginia  623 

sundown  llic  approatli  of  the  enemy  was  made  known  to  all  persons 
along  the  route  the  raiders  were  expected  to  follow.  A  detaehraent 
of  the  Tazewell  Troopers  were  doing  seouting  duty,  and  were 
eneamped  in  Abb's  Valley,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Joseph 
S.  Moss.  Judge  S.  C.  Graham,  then  a  youth  seventeen  years  old, 
son  of  Robert  Graham;  and  J.  R.  East,  a  youth  about  the  same  age, 
were  sent  as  couriers  to  Abb's  Valley  to  w-arn  Lieutenant  Moss  of 
the  presence  of  the  enemy.  He  immediately  brought  his  squadron 
to  the  head  of  the  North  Fork  of  the  Clinch,  and  during  the  night 
sent  out  scouts  to  discover  the  whereabouts  of  the  raiding  party. 
About  daylight  the  trail  of  the  party  was  discovered  just  east  of 
Witten's  Mill.  It  was  seen  that  they  were  traveling  on  foot, 
through  the  woods  and  fields,  and  in  a  staight  line  toward  the  rail- 
road at  or  near  Marion.  Lieutenant  Moss  dismounted  about  a  dozen 
of  his  men,  and  with  them  followed  the  trail.  He  had  mounted 
troopers  take  the  horses  of  himself  and  his  dismounted  men  by  the 
usual  horseback  route  in  the  direction  of  Marion ;  and  the  trailers 
got  their  horses  in  one  of  the  valleys  between  Marion  and  Tazewell. 
From  Witten's  Mill  the  raiders  made  a  bee  line^  evidently  by  use  of 
a  compass,  to  Marion,  crossing  Rich,  Clinch,  Brushy  and  Walker's 
mountains.  They  reached  the  southside  of  Walker's  Mountain, 
about  five  miles  north  of  Marion,  some  time  during  the  night  of  the 
next  day  following  their  discovery  in  Horse  Pen  Cove.  They  again 
went  into  concealment,  with  the  purpose  of  striking  the  railroad  in 
the  night  time. 

A  courier  had  been  sent  hastily  from  Jeffersonville  to  Marion  to 
warn  the  citizens  and  any  Confederate  force  that  might  be  in  that 
vicinity.  As  soon  as  the  messenger  arrived  at  Marion,  Hon.  James 
W.  Sheflfey  and  about  twenty  more  citizens  armed  themselves  and 
started  out  to  hunt  for  the  raiders.  They  found  them  on  Hungers 
Mother  Creek,  about  six  miles  north  of  Marion,  and  about  two  miles 
east  of  the  Chatham  Hill  road,  at  a  place  then  belonging  to  John 
Allen,  but  now  owned  by  Elkana  P'ord.  The  hungry  Yankees  were 
feasting  on  roasting  ears  they  had  roasted  at  a  fire,  hiding  and 
waiting  until  night  time,  when  they  could  slip  to  the  railroad  and 
destroy  bridges.  The  smoke  from  their  fire  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  squad  of  citizens  and  they  closed  in  upon  the  raiders.  When 
they  saw  the  citizens,  the  raiders  began  to  scatter  and  run.  Two 
or  three  of  them  were  captured  but  the  balance  made  their  escape. 


624 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


AVERILL  S  RAID. 


Brigadier  General  W.  W.  Averill,  with  a  brigade  of  cavalry^ 
composed  of  2/i79  officers  and  men,  made  the  third  Federal  invasion 
of  Tazewell  County,  in  May,  1864.  It  was  the  privilege  of  the 
author  to  view  this  raiding  army,  but  under  more  fortunate  circum- 
stances than  lie  liad  seen  Toland's  raiders  in  July,  18(5;]. 

General  Jolin  S.  Williams,  who  was  in  command  of  the  Confed- 
erate  forces   stationed  at  the   Salt  Works,  had   received   notice  of 


Major  Thomas  Peery  Bowen  wafi  the  eldest  of  the  four  gallant 
sons  of  Gen.  Rees  T.  Bowen  who  served  in  the  Confederate  Ai-my  as 
members  of  the  "Tazewell  Troopers."  He  was  mustered  into  service  in 
May,  1861,  his  company  being  designated  Co.  H  of  the  8th  Regiment, 
Virginia  Cavalry.  In  the  fall  of  1861  he  became  captain  of  the  com- 
pany; and  early  in  1863  was  pi'omoted  to  major  of  the  regiment  for 
gallantry  in  action.  Major  Bowen  was  severely  wounded  in  battle, 
but  remained  in  active  sei^ice  until  the  surrender  at  Appomattox. 
He  was  bom  at  Maiden  Spring,  August  2nd,  1838,  and  died  October 
6th,  1911.  i_"-- 

Averill's  advance  through  West  Virginia.  General  Williams  dis- 
patched the  8th  Virginia  Cavalry,  under  command  of  Colonel  Abe 
Cook,  and  with  IVfajor  Thomas  P.  Bowen  second  in  command,  to 
ascertain  the  strength  of  the  PVderals  and  to  impede  their  advance 
to  the  Salt  Works,  if  that  place  should  prove  to  be  Averill's  objec- 
tive. Two  companies  of  the  Sth  Cavalry  had  previously  been  sent 
to  Abb's  Valley  to  perform  picket  service.  Colonel  Cook  reached 
Tazewell  late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  7th  of  May  with  the  remainder 


and  Southwest  Virginia  625 

of  his  regiment;  and  about  the  same,  time  Averill  entered  Abb's 
Valley,  where  he  encamped  that  night.  Colonel  Cook  camped  with 
his  regiment  in  the  meadow,  now  owned  by  .Joseph  S.  Gillespie,  at 
the  west  end  of  Tazewell. 

At  about  noon  the  8th  of  May  the  head  of  Averill's  column 
arrived  at  the  Round  House  ('Squire  Tommie  Peery's  former  home) 
and  there  halted.  Tlie  advance  regiment  filed  into  the  meadow 
opposite  the  Round  House,  and  the  men  dismounted  and  held  their 
horses  while  they  grazed  upon  the  grass,  which  was  luxuriant  and 
about  knee  deep.  They  sent  out  pickets,  but  the  main  body  did  not 
advance  beyond  the  Round  House  until  late  in  the  afternoon.  These 
pickets  went  as  far  as  the  Brittain  place,  a  mile  west  of  the  court 
house. 

In  the  meantime  Colonel  Cook,  acting  upon  orders  sent  by 
couriers  from  General  Williams,  fell  back  towards  the  Salt  Works. 
Colonel  Cook's  retirement  left  Averill's  advance  unopposed. 

Some  time  ago  the  author  heard  Mr.  Alex  St.  Clair  relate  what 
he  knew  of  Averill's  movements  after  he  left  the  Peery  place.  Mr. 
St.  Clair  was  a  member  of  Company  I,  16th  Virginia  Cavalry,  that 
met  Averill's  army  on  the  10th  of  May,  1864,  in  the  battle  at 
Queen's  Knob,  or  the  Gap  of  Crockett's  Cove,  in  Wythe  County. 
Upon  request,  he  has  furnished  me  his  recollections  in  writing,  and 
they  are  as  follows : 

RECOLLECTIONS    OF    MR.   ST.    CLAIR. 

"About  the  1st  of  May,  1864,  Gen.  Averill  left  his  winter  quarters 
near  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  with  about  2,500  cavalry,  his  objective 
being  W}i;heville,  Va.,  where  he  would  strike  the  Va.  &  Tenn.  R.  R., 
one  of  the  main  arteries  by  which  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
was  supplied.  Advancing  by  way  of  Logan  and  Wyoming  counties 
he  reached  the  head  of  Abb's  Valley  on  the  evening  of  the  7th,  where 
he  surjDrised  two  companies  of  the  8th  Va.  Cavalry,  on  picket  duty, 
and  captured  20  men.  Camping  in  the  Valley  that  night,  he  pro- 
ceeded the  following  day  toward  Tazewell  C.  H.  At  Five  Oaks  he 
was  met  by  a  small  force  of  Confederates.  In  the  skirmish  that 
followed  a  Federal  soldier  was  killed  and  buried  in  the  garden  of 
C.  H.  Greever,  Esq.  A  few  days  after  a  neighbor  asked  the  Esq. 
if  he  was  not  sori-y  to  have  the  Yankee  buried  so  near  liLs  house. 
His  reply  was,  'No  ding  it,  I  wish  the}'  were  all  in  there.' 

T.H.— 40 


626  History  of  Tazewell  County 

"Averill  reached  Tazewell  Court  House  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
8th,  and  encamped  on  the  farm  of  the  late  Capt.  W.  E.  Peery,  one 
and  a  half  miles  east  of  the  Court  House.  For  some  unaccountable 
reason,  he  abandoned  the  advance  on  Wytheville,  by  way  of  Burke's 
Garden,  broke  camp  about  midnight,  and  at  daybreak  on  the  9th  was 
at  the  residence  of  the  late  Charles  F.  Tiffany  on  Bluestone.  At 
this  place  the  Federals  took  quite  a  number  of  horses  and  negroes  and 
destroyed  the  wagon  train  of  the  16th  Va.  Cavalry,  capturing  W.  P. 
Whitley,  Wm.  Gose,  and  others.  Averill  continued  his  march  by 
way  of  Cross  Roads,  Mercer  County,  and  Rocky  Gap  and  camped 
the  night  of  the  9th  near  Bland  C.  H. 

"The  16th  Va.  Cavalry,  which  had  wintered  at  'Camp  Georgia' 
near  the  residence  of  S.  C.  Peer}',  two  miles  north  of  Tazewell  C. 
H.,  was  ordered  east  May  4th,  arriving  at  a  point  near  what  is 
now  the  city  of  Bluefield.  Col.  Wm.  L.  Graham,  who  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  regiment,  learned  that  a  strong  P'ederal  force  was 
advancing  from  Princeton.  This  proved  to  be  Gen.  Crook  with 
about  7,000  men,  who  was  acting  in  conjunction  with  Averill,  and 
had  for  his  objective  Dublin,  Va.,  which  he  reached  after  the  battle 
of  Cloyd's  Farm.     This  battle  was  fouglit  May  9th. 

"After  Crook  had  passed  Rocky  Gap,  Colonel  Graham  led  the 
16th  to  Wytheville.  On  the  morning  of  the  10th  Gen.  John  H. 
Morgan  reached  Wytheville,  in  advance  of  his  command,  and 
ordered  Col.  Graham  to  take  his  regiment  to  the  gap  at  Crockett's 
Cove,  six  miles  from  Wytheville,  and  to  hold  the  gap  till  reinforced. 
Passing  through  the  gap,  the  16th  emerged  into  the  Cove  beyond. 
In  a  very  short  time  we  saw  our  advanced  guard  coming  pell  mell 
with  two  Yankee  regiments  in  hot  pursuit.  Mounting  our  horses 
we  dashed  back  into  the  gap.  Col.  Graham's  command  was:  "Dis- 
mount boys  and  follow  Grimes",  which  we  did  with  a  will,  and 
poured  a  withering  fire  into  the  charging  Yanks,  emptying  many 
saddles,  and  sending  the  rest  scurrying  to  cover.  Col.  Graham, 
not  being  a  West  Pointer,  gave  many  unique  commands,  but  which 
always  meant,  "go  for  them  boys",  with  Grimes  in  the  lead.  The 
8th  Va.  Cavalry,  having  arrived,  occupied  the  gap.  The  16th  was 
deployed  and  moved  east  along  the  top  of  the  mountain.  The 
Yankees  dismounted  a  regiment  and  attempted  to  turn  our  right 
flank  by  crossing  the  mountain  and  striking  our  rear;  but  tlie  16th 
met  them  on  the  mountain  top,  drove  them  down  the  mountain,  thus 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


627 


throwing  us  on  their  left  flank.  Just  at  this  time,  Gen.  Morgan,  who 
had  gone  around  the  mountain  west  of  the  gap  where  the  figlit 
began,  advanced  on  Averill's  riglit  flank.  Seeing  this,  Averill  began 
to  withdraw,  which  he  did  in  a  most  skillful  manner,  forming  his 
regiments  in  Echelon,  each  one  when  driven  back  forming  in  the 
rear  of  the  others,  thus  maintaining  a  stubborn  resistance.  But  with 
all  his  skill  and  bravery,  night  alone  saved  him  from  utter  rout  and 
ca2:)ture.     Averill  lost  many  in  killed  and  wounded,  himself  among 


Colonel  William  L.  Graham  was  one  of  the  most  fearless  soldiers 
and  commanders  that  Tazewell  County  gave  to  the  Confederate  ai-my. 
He  was  a  gi-andson  of  Colonel  John  Montgomery,  who  was  a  noted 
Indian  fighter,  and  who  served  with  George  Rodgers  Claik  in  the 
Illinois  campaign.  Colonel  Graham  was  not  a  trained  military  man, 
but  a  natural  bom  fighter  and  leader.  He  always  led  his  men  into 
battle,  calling  on  them  to  "P'oUow  Grimes."  He  was  born  near  Chat- 
ham Hill,  Smji;h  County,  Virginia,  in  October,  1820,  and  died  in 
April,  1908. 

the  latter.  The  Confederates  losses  were  very  small.  In  this 
engagement  about  2,500  men  on  each  side  took  part,  but  I  doubt 
if  a  more  systematic  and  skillful  fight  took  place  during  the  Civil 
War.  Averill  retreated  to  the  neighborhood  of  Blacksburg,  where 
he  joined  Crook,  who  fell  back  to  JNIeadow  Bluff  in  Greenbrier 
County.  After  resting  a  few  days,  he  moved  along  the  C.  &  O. 
R.  R.,  desti-03ing  the  same,  and  joined  Hunter  at  Staunton.  The 
united  armies  then  began  the  advance  on  Lynchburg,  by  way  of 
Lexington,   Buchanan,   Liberty,   etc.      McCausland,   skirmishing   at 


628  History  of  Tazewell  County 

ever}'  point  of  vantage,  burning"  bridges,  blocking  roads,  etc.,  so 
delayed  tlie  advance  that  Early  reached  Lynchburg  in  time  to 
save  the  city.  On  tlie  18tli  of  June,  Hunter  became  alarmed  and 
commenced  an  ignominious  retreat,  fleeing  through  the  mountains  of 
West  Virginia,  to  the  Kanawha,  thus  leaving  the  way  open  for 
Early's  advance  on  Washington  City." 

BUUBUIDGE    RAID   AND    BATTLE    AT   SALT   WORKS. 

The  fourth,  and  last,  Federal  raid  through  Tazewell  Count}' 
was  under  command  of  Brigadier  General  Stephen  G.  Burbridge; 
and  was  made  in  the  last  days  of  September  and  the  first  days  of 
October,  1864.  His  object  in  making  the  expedition  was  to  get  to 
and  destroy  the  Preston  Salt  Works,  situated  on  the  North  Pork 
of  Holston  River,  in  Smyth  County.  From  these  works  the  Soulhern 
States  were  getting  their  principal  supplies  of  salt. 

General  Burbridge  assembled  an  army  of  five  thousand  men  at 
Pikeville,  Kentucky.  From  that  place  he  marched  to  the  Louisa 
Fork  of  Big  Sandy  River,  and  up  that  stream  to  Grundy  in 
Buchanan  County.  Then  he  proceeded  up  the  Louisa  River,  using 
the  Kentucky  and  Tazewell  C.  H.  Turnpike,  crossed  the  Dividing 
Ridge,  and  entered  the  Clinch  Valley  at  the  present  village  of 
Raven,  in  Tazewell  County.  He  then  moved  up  the  Clinch,  passing 
Richlands,  and  arrived  at  Cedar  Bluff  on  the  30th  of  September. 
There  lie  came  in  contact  with  a  body  of  Confederates,  mostly  Ken- 
tuckians,  who  were  commanded  by  that  splendid  soldier,  Colonel 
Giltner,  of  Kentucky.  Burbridge  pressed  on  from  Cedar  Bluff 
toward  the  Salt  Works,  marching  through  the  Cove,  crossing  Clinch 
and  Little  Brushy  mountains,  and  passing  through  Laurel  Gap. 
Giltner  and  his  small  force  could  do  nothing  more  than  place  obstruc- 
tions across  the  roads  and  delay  the  advance  of  the  Federals. 

Burbridge  passed  through  Laurel  Gap  on  Saturday  evening, 
October  1st,  1864.  Instead  of  pressing  on  to  the  Salt  Works,  where 
Giltner  had  gone  and  joined  the  Confederate  forces,  he  encamped 
for  the  night  in  the  river  bottoms,  just  south  of  Laurel  Gap,  now 
owned  by  Thomas  E.  George.  Some  military  critics  have  ventured 
the  opinion  that  Burbridge  committed  a  serious  blunder  by  not 
rushing  on  to  attack  the  Confederates  in  the  night  time,  and  before 
they  received  reinforcements.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  the 
Federal  General  found  his  troops  so  exhausted  by  their  long  and 


and  Southwest  Virginia  629 

difficult  nianli  llial  lie  deemed  it  safest  to  rest  tliem  before  making 
an  attack. 

On  tlie  morning  of  the  2nd  of  October,  he  broke  camp  and 
marched  to  the  scene  of  battle,  arriving  there  at  about  9:.'}0  o'clock. 
About  tile  same  time  General  John  S.  Williams  got  to  the  Salt 
Works,  bringing  with  him  nearly  a  thousand  men.  The  Confederate 
General  had  three  thousand  men,  including  seven  hundred  reserves 
from  the  counties  of  Tazewell,  W^ashington,  Wythe,  Grayson  and 
Carroll.  The  I'eserves  were  men  over  forty-five  years  old  and  youths 
under  eighteen. 

The  Confederates  had  formed  their  line  of  battle  along  the  tops 
of  the  bluffs  and  cliff's  on  the  south  side  of  the  North  Fork  of  the 
Holston,  reaching  up  the  river  from  Buffalo  Ford,  and  down  the 
stream  to  where  the  chemical  plant  of  the  Mathieson  Alkali  Works 
is  now  located.  When  Burbridge  arrived  at  9 :30  o'clock  he 
promptly  formed  his  lines  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  fronting 
the  Confederate  forces,  and  the  battle  began  about  10  o'clock.  Each 
army  was  commanded  by  a  Kentuekian,  and  both  of  the  armies 
engaged  were  composed  very  largely  of  Kentuckians.  The  battle 
was  continued  from  10  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  sundown,  when 
victory  perched  upon  the  banner  of  the  Confederates.  Summers  in 
his  history  of  Southwest  Virginia,  says: 

"The  Federal  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  in  tliis  battle  was  about 
three  hundred  and  fifty,  the  number  of  prisoners  captured  is  va- 
riously estimated  at  from  three  to  twelve  hundred.  The  Federals 
left  ujDon  the  field  one  hundred  and  four  white  and  one  hundred 
and  fifty-six  negro  soldiers. 

"The  Confederate  loss  was  eight  killed  and  fifty-one  wounded, 
among  the  killed  being  Colonel  Trimble  and  Lieutenant  Crutchfield, 
of  the  Tenth  Kentucky  Regiment." 

Among  the  reserves,  who  acted  with  great  valor  was  one  com- 
pany from  Tazewell  County,  that  were  a  part  of  the  13tli  Batta- 
lion of  Virginia  Reserves.  That  battalion  was  commanded  by 
Colonel  Robert  Smith  of  Tazewell  County,  with  Major  Henry 
Smith  of  Russell  County  second  in  command,  and  was  composed  of 
the  following  companies : 

Company  A,  Smyth  County,  commanded  by  Captain  Robert 
Brown. 


630 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


Company  B.  Tazewell  County,  commanded  by  Captain  Samuel 
L.  Graham. 

Company  C.  Washington  County,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  J. 
S.  Booher. 

Company  1),  Smytli  County,  commanded  by  Captain  Evan  D. 
Richardson. 

Company  F,  Washington  County,  commanded  by  Captain  Wil- 
liam Barrow. 


Colonel  Robert  Smith  was  born  at  Jacksboro,  Tennessee,  March 
1st,  1819.  In  1839  he  married  Miss  Dorinda  Cecil,  daughter  of  Samuel 
Cecil,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  Tazewell  County  in  1848.  He  was 
commissioned  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  13th  Battalion,  Virginia 
Reserves,  in  1864,  and  commanded  that  battalion  at  the  battle  of 
Saltville  on  October  2nd,  1864,  where  he  and  his  men  won  fame  for 
their  gallantry.  In  1871,  Colonel  Smith  moved  with  his  family  to 
California,  where  he  died  at  a  venerable  age  in  December,  1899. 


Company  G,  Russell  County,  commanded  by  Captain  A.  P. 
Gilmer. 

Company  H,  commanded  by  Captain  George  E.  Starnes. 

Company  I,  Washington  County,  commanded  by  Captain  Thomas 
E.  Patterson. 

The  13th  Battalion  held  the  line  in  front  of  the  residence  of 
"Governor"  (James)  Sanders.  Every  attack  made  by  the  Federals 
was  repelled,  and  tlie  battalion  did  such  valiant  service  that  Sum- 
mers, writing  about  the  part  the  reserves  took  in  the  battle,  says: 


and  Southwest  Virginia  631 

"It  was  tliouglit  at  the  time  that  the  bravery  exhibited  in  this 
contest  by  the  reserves  from  Southwest  Virginia  was  equal  to  the 
bravery  exhibited  by  the  citizens  of  this  county  at  King's  Mountain 
in  1780." 

Eurbridge  began  to  retreat  verj^  soon  after  the  battle  was  ended; 
and  returned  to  Kentucky  by  the  same  route  lie  had  used  in  making 
the  advance  to  the  Salt  Works. 


After  four  years  of  heroic  struggle  and  awful  sacrifice  the 
depleted  armies  of  the  Confederacy  were  compelled  to  ground  their 
arms  and  furl  the  "Stars  and  Bars." 

Tazewell  County  had  sent  forth  nearly  two  thousand  of  her  best 
and  bravest  sons  to  do  service  for  their  country.  Many  of  them 
had  fallen  on  battle  fields,  and  were  resting  in  heroes  graves ;  many 
had  been  maimed  and  physically  impaired  for  life;  others  were  in 
Federal  prisons  and  their  home-coming  was  delayed ;  but  those  who 
were  still  fit  returned  speedily  to  their  homes  and  dear  ones.  It 
was  not  a  land  made  desolate  by  the  iron-hoof  of  war  to  which  they 
returned.  The  rich  soil,  gushing  springs  and  beautiful  streams  the 
pioneers  fovmd  when  they  came  to  the  Clinch  Valley  were  still 
here.  It  was  springtime  when  the  Tazewell  soldiers  got  back  home. 
The  pastures  on  the  hills  and  mountain  sides,  and  the  meadows  along 
the  streams  were  carpeted  with  that  exquisite  verdure  which  had 
made  and  still  makes  Tazewell  almost  world-famous.  The  returned 
soldiers  went  earnestly  to  work  to  further  develop  and  beautify  the 
land  they  had  inherited  from  tlie  pioneer  fathers  and  mothers. 
How  faithfully  they  and  their  sons  have  performed  that  servicq  is 
now  to  be  seen  on  every  hand. 

RECONSTRUCTION    AND    REORGANIZATION    OF    COUNTY    GOVERNMENT. 

Upon  the  downfall  of  the  Confederate  States,  the  State  govern- 
ment of  Virginia,  that  had  been  exercising  at  the  capitol  govern- 
mental functions  during  the  war,  was  necessarily  overthrown. 
Francis  H.  Peirpont  had  been  elected  Governor  of  Virginia  on  the 
20th  of  June,  1861,  by  a  bogus  convention  that  assembled  at  AVlieel- 
ing.  He  established  his  seat  of  government  at  Wheeling;  and  kept 
it  there  until  the  State  of  West  Virginia  was  admitted  to  the  Union 
and  the  government  of  the  new  State  was  organized.     On  the  20th 


632  History  of  Tazewell  County 

of  JunCj  1863,  Governor  Peirpont  removed  his  seat  of  government  to 
Alexandi-ia.  And,  on  the  9th  of  May,  1865,  Andrew  Johnson,  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  issued  a  proclamation  recognizing  Peir- 
pont as  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia. 

In  this  proclamation.  President  Jolmson  ordered:  "That  all 
acts  and  proceedings  of  the  political,  military,  and  civil  organiza- 
tions which  have  been  in  a  state  of  insurrection  and  rebellion  within 
the  State  of  Virginia,  against  the  authority  and  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  and  of  which  Jefferson  Davis,  John  Letcher,  and 
William  Smith  were  late  the  respective  chiefs,  are  declared  null 
and  void.  All  persons  who  shall  exercise,  claim,  pretend  or  attempt 
to  exercise  any  political,  military  or  civil  power,  authority,  juris- 
diction or  right,  by,  through  or  under  Jefferson  Davis,  late  of  the 
city  of  Richmond,  and  his  confederates,  or  under  John  Letcher  or 
William  Smith,  or  civil  commission  or  authority  issued  by  them  or 
either  of  them,  since  the  17th  day  of  April,  1861,  shall  be  deemed 
and  taken  as  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  and  shall  be 
dealt  with  accordingly."  The  President  also  declared  that  the 
Federal  Government  would  aid  Governor  Peirpont,  "in  the  lawful 
measures  which  he  may  take  for  the  extension  and  administration 
of  the  State  government  throughout  the  geographical  limits  of  the 
said  State." 

P'ollowing  the  issuance  of  President  Johnson's  proclamation. 
Governor  Peirpont,  with  his  executive  officers,  removed  the  seat  of 
government  from  Alexandria  to  Richmond,  and  occupied  the  gov- 
ernor's mansion  and  the  capitol.  The  first  entry  in  the  Executive 
Journal  was  made  on  the  23rd  of  May,  1865,  and  is  as  follows: 

"His  Excellency  the  governor,  in  pursuance  of  the  authority  in 
him  vested  by  the  laws  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  upon  due  informa- 
tion of  the  suppression  of  insurrection  and  domestic  violence  within 
the  limits  of  the  Commonwealth,  ordered  that  the  seat  of  government 
be  restored  to  and  re-established  at  the  city  of  Richmond,  from  and 
after  this  date,  and  issued  his  proclamation  accordingly." 

By  the  mandate  of  the  President's  proclamation,  every  civil 
office  in  Virginia — State,  county,  and  municipal — became  vacant; 
and  it  was  incumbent  upon  Governor  Peirpont  to  see  that  all  such 
offices  were  refilled  with  capable  men. 

The  last  term  of  the  county  court  of  Tazewell,  while  the  Con- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  633 

federacy  was  in  existence,  was  held  on  March  1st,  18()5.  S.  W. 
Cecil  presided,  and  the  other  justices  sitting  were,  W.  H.  Buclianan 
and  S.  F.  Watts.  For  nearly  seven  months  thereafter  the  county 
was  without  any  court  or  county  officers ;  but  the  affairs  of  the 
county  remained  as  orderl}'  as  when  the  pioneers  lived  liere  witliout 
any  justices  or  constables  to  maintain  order. 

The  first  term  of  the  county  court,  held  under  the  restored,  or 
Peirpont,  government  was  on  the  27th  of  September,  1865;  and  the 
first  orders  entered  were  the  following: 

"Be  it  remembered  that  on  this  the  27th  day  of  September,  in 
the  year  1865,  at  Tazewell  Court  House  appeared  William  O.  Yost, 
William  H.  Buchanan,  Adam  Hedrick,  Rees  B.  Higginbotham, 
Reizin  R.  Steel,  Samuel  H.  Chiddix,  Joseph  C.  Brown,  Mark  T. 
Lockhart,  James  Hankins,  Henry  Hunt,  Jonathan  Smith,  Hugh  D. 
Dudley,  James  Davis,  Granville  Jones,  and  David  G.  Yost,  who  pre- 
sented commissions  from  F.  H.  Peirpont,  Governor  of  Virginia,  as 
justices  of  the  peace  for  said  county  from  this  day  till  the  1st  day 
of  August,  1868,  w^ho  took  and  subscribed  the  oath  prescribed  by 
the  Constitution  and  the  oath  of  office  before  Washington  Spotts, 
one  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  said  Governor  for  the  said 
county  of  Tazewell." 

William  O.  Yost  was  elected  presiding  justice  for  the  term  to 
expire  the  1st  day  of  August,  1868. 

Rees  B.  Gillespie,  who  had  been  elected  sheriff  on  the  17th  day 
of  August,  1865,  by  the  qualified  voters  of  the  county,  qualified 
to  serve  from  the  27th  day  of  August,  1865,  until  the  1st  of 
January,  1867. 

Sterling  F.  Watts,  who  had  been  elected  at  the  same  election  as 
Commonwealth's  Attorney  for  Tazewell  County,  qualified  by  taking 
the  necessary  oaths. 

Rees  B.  Gillespie,  sheriff  of  the  county,  ajDpointed  H.  R.  Bogle, 
William  Hankins  and  Mathias  Harrisson  his  deputies,  and  they 
qualified  as  such. 

David  A.  Daughtery,  who  had  been  elected  Commissioner  of 
Revenue  for  District  No.  1.  and  Charles  J.  McDowell,  who  had  been 
elected  Commissioner  of  Revenue  for  District  No.  2,  appeared  and 
qualified. 

Simon  W.  Young,  William  Hankins,  James  Allen,  and  Ransom  S. 


634  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Dudley  qualified  as  constables;  and  Thomas  B.  Crabtree  qualified 
as  overseer  of  the  poor. 

James  W.  Thompson,  who  had  been  elected  clerk  of  the  county 
at  the  election  in  August,  qualified — his  term  of  office  to  extend 
until  the  30th  of  June,  1870. 

Thus  was  the  county  government  of  Tazewell  reorganized  with- 
out any  carpetbag  element  in  it. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  having,  by  proclamation, 
declared  the  government  of  Virginia  restored,  an  election  was  held 
in  the  fall  of  1865  to  elect  members  of  the  General  Assembly;  and 
George  W.  Deskins  was  elected  as  the  representative  of  Tazewell 
County.  At  the  session  held  during  the  winter  of  1865-66  the 
General  Assembly  proceeded  to  elect  the  various  State  officers  and 
to  enact  such  laws  as  were  made  necessary  by  the  results  of  the  war. 

The  Fourteenth  Amendment  was  passed  by  Congress  in  July, 
1866,  and  its  ratification  by  the  Southern  States  was  made  a  condi- 
tion precedent  to  their  readmission  to  the  Union.  The  Amendment 
was  indignantly  rejected  by  the  Legislature  of  every  Southern 
State,  except  Tennessee.  In  the  Virginia  Legislature,  at  the  ses- 
sion of  1866-67,  only  one  member  voted  for  its  acceptance.  The 
rejection  of  the  Amendment  gave  Thad  Stevens  and  his  radical 
associates  in  Congress  rare  oj^portunity  to  vent  their  hatred  for  the 
unhappy  South.  They  began  immediately  to  formulate  their  Recon- 
struction measures. 

On  the  2nd  of  March,  1867,  Congress  passed  an  act  which  pro- 
vided for  establishing  military  governments  in  the  "rebel  States". 
Under  its  operation  Virginia  was  designated  "Military  District  No. 
1."  The  act  also  provided  that  the  peojole  of  the  "rebel  States" 
should  frame  acceptable  constitutions  and  adopt  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment  before  they  could  have  representation  in  Congress ;  and 
the  act  further  provided:  "That  until  the  people  of  any  of  said 
States  shall  be  by  law  admitted  to  representation  in  Congress,  any 
civil  government  which  may  exist  therein  shall  be  deemed  provisional 
only,  and  in  all  respects  subject  to  the  paramount  authority  of  the 
United  States,  at  any  time,  to  abolish,  modify,  control  or  supersede 
the  same." 

The  act  of  March  2nd,  1867,  also  provided  for  the  election  of 
members  to  a  convention  to  frame  a  constitution  for  Virginia,  and 
authorized  the  voters  of  the  State  to  vote  for  or  against  a  convention 


and  Southwest  Virginia  635 

to  form  a  constitution.  An  election  was  held  on  the  3rd  of  Decem- 
ber, 1867,  a  convention  was  voted  for  by  a  majority  of  the  people, 
and  delegates  elected  thereto.  Colonel  James  Milton  French,  of 
Bland  County,  was  elected  to  represent  Tazewell  and  Bland  counties 
in  the  convention.  The  convention  met  at  Richmond  on  the  3rd  of 
December,  1867,  and  framed  what  has  since  been  known  by  the 
name  of  the  "Underwood  Constitution." 

Thereupon,  Congress  passed  an  act  on  the  10th  of  April,  1869, 
authorizing  the  submission  of  the  Constitution  of  Virginia  to  the 
jjeople  for  ratification  or  rejection,  and  provided  for  the  election  of 
State  officers  and  members  of  Congress  at  the  same  election.  The 
act  also  prescribed  that  the  President  of  the  United  States  should 
submit  the  Constitution  to  the  people  of  Virginia  at  such  time  as 
he  deemed  best,  and  should  also  submit  to  a  separate  vote  such 
provisions  of  said  Constitution  as  he  deemed  best. 

There  were  several  clauses  of  the  Constitution  that  were  obnox- 
ious to  all  the  white  people  and  many  of  the  negroes  of  the  State ; 
and  President  Grant  ordered  that  the  obnoxious  clauses,  each,  be 
submitted  separately.  He  issued  a  proclamation  on  the  lith  of 
IVIay,  1869,  ordering  that  the  election  for  ratification  or  rejection  of 
the  Constitution  be  held  on  the  6th  of  July,  1869.  The  election 
was  held  at  the  designated  time,  and  the  Constitution  was  adopted, 
the  affirmative  vote  being  210,555,  and  the  negative  vote  9,136. 
The  obnoxious  clauses  were  rejected  by  a  majority  of  more  than 
forty  thousand  votes. 

At  this  same  election  Gilbert  C.  Walker  was  elected  Governor 
of  Virginia,  John  F.  Lewis,  Lieutenant  Governor;  and  James  C. 
Taylor,  Attorney  General.  Governor  Walker  was  inaugurated  on 
the  21st  of  September,  1869;  and  the  General  Assembly,  elected 
under  the  Constitution,  met  at  the  capitol  on  the  5th  of  October, 
1869.  On  the  8th  of  October  the  Legislature  ratified  and  adopted 
both  the  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Amendments  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  In  this  manner  civil  government  was  restored 
in  Virginia,  and  the  State  again  became  a  member  of  the  Federal 
Union. 

In  the  meantime,  while  the  State  was  under  military  rule,  the 
terms  of  the  justices  who  were  appointed  by  Governor  Peirpont, 
and  who  constituted  the  county  court  for  Tazewell  County,  had 
expired.     General  George  Stoneman,  w^ho  was  then  in  command  of 


636 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


Military  District  No.  1,  appointed  a  new  list  of  justices.  The  new 
coui-t  held  its  first  term  on  the  31st  of  March^  18G9,  when  the 
following  business  was  transacted,  as  shown  by  the  order  book  of 
the  court; 

"Be  it  remembered  that  on  the  31st  day  of  INIarch,  in  the  year 
1869,  at  Tazewell  Court  House,  in  the  Countj^  of  Tazewell,  appeared 
Henry  F.  Hunt,  Jacob  Wimmer,  William  T.  Doak,  James  Albert, 
Crockett  StumjD,  Jeptha  Fallen,  John  G.  Prater,  George  T.  Falkner. 
William  B.  \'ost,  William  J.  Tabor,  Absalom  J.  Hall  and  William 
Lester,   who  severally  produced  commissions   from   Bre't.    General 


Captain  Henry  Bowen  was  the  most  distinguished  son  of  Tazewell, 
certainly  the  most  highly  honored  by  his  people.  He  was  bom  at 
Maiden  Spring  on  December  26th,  1815,  and  died  in  view  of  the  old 
homestead — the  place  of  his  nativity,  on  the  29th  day  of  April, 
1915.  In  May,  1861,  he  entered  the  sei-vice  of  the  Confederate 
States  as  a  member  of  the  "Tazewell  Ti'oopers;"  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one  became  captain  of  that  gallant  company,  and  led  it  in 
the  frequent  battles  in  which  it  was  engaged  until  he  was  captured 
at  the  battle  of  Winchester  in  September,  1864.  In  this  battle  Taze- 
well lost  several  of  her  bi-ave  boys.  Captain  Bowen's  distinction  in 
civil  life  began  when  he  was  elected  to  represent  Tazewell  County  in 
the  Virginia  General  Assembly  in  1869.  He  seived  at  the  sessions  of 
1869-70  and  1870-71;  and  had  the  distinction  of  being  a  member  of  the 
General  Assembly  that  restored  Virginia  to  the  Union  by  the  adoption 
of  the  Foui-teenth  and  Fifteenth  Amendments  to  the  Federal  Consti- 
tution. In  1882  he  was  elected  to  Congress  by  the  Readjusters,  as 
the  representative  of  the  Ninth  Congressional  District.  And  again 
in  1886  he  was  elected  a  member  of  Congress  by  the  Republican  Party. 
Upon  his  retirement  from  Congress,  he  returned  to  the  vocation  of 
his  pioneer  ancestors — that  of  grazier  and  fanner — which  noble  calling 
he  followed  to  the  end  of  his  life. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  '         637 

George  Stoneman,  Commanding  the  Military  District  of  Virginia, 
wlio  took  and  subscribed  to  tlic  oatli  prescribed  by  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  by  act  passed  the  2nd  day  of  July,  1868,  before 
Henry  F.  Hunt  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  said  County,  and  a 
majority  of  the  justices  being  present  they  proceeded  to  election 
of  one  of  their  body  for  presiding  justice,  and  Henry  F.  Hunt  was 
declared  duly  elected  presiding  justice  of  this  Court." 

David  Lester,  who  had  been  appointed  by  General  Stoneman 
sheriff  of  Tazewell  County,  qualified  as  such. 

Rees  B.  Gillespie,  who  had  been  appointed  clerk,  qualified. 
John  G.  Lester  qualified  as  Commissioner  of  Revenue  for  Dis- 
trict No.  1,  and  John  S.  Moore  qualified  as  Commissioner  of  Revenue 
for  District  No.  2. 

Mathias  H.  Beavers  qualified  as  constable  for  District  No.  1, 
and  Rees  B.  Lester  qualified  as  constable  for  District  No.  2. 

The  justices  and  county  officers  that  were  appointed  by  General 
Stoneman  served  for  one  year.  Under  the  provisions  of  the  Under- 
wood Constitution  the  old  county  court  system  was  abolished;  and 
the  last  term  of  that  court  was  held  in  Tazewell  County  on  the 
30th  of  March,  1870.  James  P.  Kelly  was  elected  judge  of  the 
county  court  of  Tazewell  by  the  General  Assembly  at  its  session  of 
1869-70. 

The  first  term  of  the  county  court  of  Tazewell,  under  the  new 
system,  was  begun  on  the  27th  day  of  April,  1870,  with  Judge 
James  P.  Kelly  presiding. 

Rees  B.  Gillespie  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  court,  Henry  C. 
Alderson  was  appointed  Commonwealth's  Attorney,  and  Charles  A. 
Fudge  was  appointed  sheriff  of  the  county.  He  appointed  Hamilton 
R.  Bogle,  Alexander  St.  Clair,  F.  P.  Spotts,  and  William  H.  Bar- 
nett  his  deputies.  All  of  these  were  qualified  by  the  court  and 
entered  immediately  upon  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices.  It 
was  necessary  for  Judge  Kelly  to  make  these  temporary  appoint- 
ments ;  and  the  several  appointees  served  until  their  successors  were 
elected  by  the  voters  of  the  county. 

The  despised  military  rule  under  abhorred  Reconstruction  was 
thus  completely  terminated  in  Tazewell  County.  This  county, 
however,  had  escaped  the  evils  of  the  much  hated  carpetbag  govern- 
ment, for  during  the  entire  Reconstruction  period  the  affairs  of  the 
county  were  administered  by  men  who  were  "natives  here  and  to 
the  manner  born." 


638  ■       History  of  Tazewell  County 


APPENDIX  TO  WAR  AND  RECON- 
STRUCTION PERIOD 


Containing  the  Names  of  Tazewell  Men  Who  Served 

as  Field  and  Company  Officers  In  the 

Confederate  Army 

LIST  OF   FIELD  AND   COMPANY   OFFICERS. 

It  was  my  intention  to  procure  for  publication  rolls  of  the 
twenty  companies  from  Tazewell  County  that  were  in  the  service  of 
the  Confederate  States.  This  scheme  has  been  impossible  of  accom- 
plishment, as  very  few  of  the  rolls  have  been  preserved.  Only  four 
or  five  have  been  obtained,  and  these  are  two  few  to  publish. 

A  friend  of  the  author  informed  him  that  valuable  information 
about  the  Confederate  soldiers  from  Tazewell  County  could  be 
secured  from  'Squire  S.  M.  Graham,  son  of  the  gallant  Colonel  Wil- 
liam L.  Graham.  From  Mr.  Graham  I  have  received  information 
of  great  value.  He  has  furnished  it  in  such  excellent  form  that  I 
will  make  no  alterations,  but  publish  as  it  came  from  his  pen.  It 
is  as  follows : 

Graham,  Va.,  Jan.  8th,  1919. 
Col.  W.  C.  Pendleton, 
Marion,  Va. 
Dear  Colonel: 

I  have  just  received  your  letter  of  the  6th  inst.,  asking  for 
information  as  to  the  companies  organized  in  Tazewell  County,  that 
served  in  the  Confederate  Army.  I  regret  that  I  cannot  give  you 
all  the  information  you  desire.  I  remember  well  all  the  Field 
Officers  and  Captains  that  went  from  this  county  into  the  Confed- 
erate Armj^ ;  but  I  cannot  recall  the  Lieutenants — some  of  them  I 
remember,  but  verj'  few. 

I  have  no  record  of  these  companies,  nor  the  officers,  except  a 
short  one,  I  compiled  from  memory  about  two  years  ago. 

There  were  twenty  companies   organized  in   Tazewell   County, 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


639 


that  served  in  the  Confederate  Army — ten  companies  of  infantry 
and  ten  companies  of  cavalry. 

The  first  four  companies  were  organized  early  in  the  spring  of 
1861,  and  were  incorporated  in  the  l-5th  Regiment  Va.  Inf.  as 
Companies  A,  G,  H,  and  K.     Joseph  Harrisson  was  the  first  Cap- 


Colonel  Joseph  Harrisson  was  among  the  first  of  Tazewell's  sons  to 
enter  the  sei-^dce  of  the  Confederate  States  as  a  soldier.  He  was 
elected  captain  of  Company  A,  45th  Regiment,  Virginia  Infantry,  in 
May,  1861,  and  served  as  captain  of  that  company  until  the  spring  of 
1862.  For  the  remainder  of  the  war  he  was  continually  engaged  in 
other  branches  of  the  service.  Colonel  Harrisson  was  bom  within 
the  present  limits  of  the  town  of  Tazewell  in  1830,  and  died  here  in 
1905.  He  was  a  man  of  undaunted  courage  and  was  an  excellent 
soldier. 


tain  of  Co.  A.  He  served  until  the  spring  of  1862.  John  Thomp- 
son was  the  second  Captain  and  served  until  the  end  of  the  war. 
William  Browne  was  the  first  Captain  of  Co.  G.  He  served  as 
Captain  until  the  spring  of  1862,  when  lie  became  Colonel  of  the 
regiment.  He  was  mortally  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Piedmont  in 
June,  1864.  He  was  a  West  Pointer,  and  an  accomplished  officer. 
After  the  promotion  of  Colonel  Browne,  James  S.  Peery  became 
Captain  of  Co.  G.  He  was  captured  at  the  battle  of  Piedmont  and 
was  not  released  from  prison  until  tlie  war  ended. 

P2dwin  Harnian  was  the  first  Captain  of  Co.  H.  Robt.  H.  Tay- 
lor 1st.  Lieutenant,  C.  A.  Fudge,  2nd  Lieutenant  and  Armour  Bailey, 
3rd  Lieutenant.     In  the  spring  of   1862   Captain  Harman  became 


640 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  15th  Reg.  and  was  mortally  wounded  at 
the  battle  of  Cloyd's  Farm  in  May,  186-1.  When  promoted  to  Lieu. 
Col.  he  was  succeeded  as  Captain  of  Co.  H.  by  Charles  A.  Fudge. 
Capt.  Fudge  was  desperately  wounded  and  captured  at  the  battle 
of  Piedmont  in  June,  1864,  and  was  not  released  from  prison  until 
the  end  of  the  war.  He  never  fully  recovered  from  the  wound. 
Lieutenant  Bailey  remained  with  the  company  until  the  end  of  the 


Colonel  Titus  Vespasian  Williams  was  bom  in  Tazewell  County, 
June  2nd,  1835,  and  died  at  the  home  of  his  son,  Emmett,  at  Valena, 
Iowa,  on  May  7th,  1908.  He  graduated  at  the  Virginia  Military  Insti- 
tute on  July  4th,  1859.  In  the  fall  of  1859  he  opened  an  academy  at 
Jeffersonville  and  was  conducting  that  school  when  Virginia  seceded 
from  the  Union  in  1861.  He  immediately  organized  a  company  of 
volunteers  which  enteied  the  service  of  the  Confederacy,  with  him  as 
captain,  and  was  attached  to  the  45th  Regiment,  Virginia  Infantry. 
Very  soon  after  entering  the  service  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
major  and  transferred  to  the  37th  Virginia  Infantry.  For  gallant 
conduct  in  the  seven  days  battle  below  Richmond,  in  1862,  he  was 
promoted  to  colonel  of  the  37th  Regiment  and  remained  its  com- 
mander until  the  close  of  the  war.  Colonel  Williams  was  a  splendid 
soldier  and  received  wounds  in  several  engagements. 

war.     Lieutenant  Taylor  resigned  and  afterward  became  a  captain 
in  the  cavalry  service. 

Titus  V.  Williams  was  the  first  Captain  of  Co.  K.  He  was  a 
graduate  of  the  Virginia  Military  Institute,  and  soon  after  his 
election  to  the  captaincy  of  Co.  K  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
Major  and  was  transferred  to  the  37th  Regiment  Va.  Inf.     After 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


641 


the  seven  days  battle  around  Richmond,  in  the  summer  of  1862, 
he  was  promoted  to  Colonel  of  the  .37th  Regiment  and  commanded 
it  until  the  end  of  the  war.  He  was  wounded  in  two  or  three  dif- 
ferent engagements.  After  the  })roinotion  of  Captain  Williams, 
John  H.  Whitley,  who  was  1st.  Lieutenant  of  Co.  K,  became  Cap- 
tain.     He  served   until   the   reorganization,  in   the  spring  of    1862. 


Colonel  Edwin  Houston  Haiman  was  bom  February  13th,  1835, 
in  the  Bluestone  Valley,  Tazewell  County.  He  was  the  son  of  Erastus 
Granger  Harman,  one  of  the  fivst-bom  generation  of  that  section  of 
the  county.  On  the  2nd  of  April,  1861,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Jennie 
King  at  the  bride's  home  on  Back  Creek,  Pulaski  County,  Virginia; 
and  a  few  days  thereafter  entered  the  sei-\'ice  of  the  Confederate 
States  as  captain  of  Company  A,  45th  Regiment,  Virginia  Infantry. 
In  the  spring  of  1862  he  was  promoted  to  lieutenant  colonel  of  the 
regiment.  He  was  a  daring  and  accomplished  soldier  and  officer;  and 
it  was  strangely  decreed  by  fate  that  he  should  fall  in  battle  but  a 
few  miles  distant  from  the  place  where  he  won  his  bride  three  years 
previously.  On  the  9th  of  May,  1864,  Colonel  Harman  was  mortally 
wounded  at  the  battle  of  Cloyd's  Moimtain,  and  died  from  the  wound 
two  days  later.  His  dust  now  rests  in  a  heroe's  grave  in  Thorn  Spring 
Cemetery,  about  six  miles  west  of  where  he  fell  in  battle. 


He   was   succeeded  by   Captain   Henry   Yost,   who   commanded  the 

company  until  the  end  of  the  war.     Captain  Whitley,  after  leaving 

the  45th  Regiment,  became  a  Lieutenant  in  Co.  I,   16th  Reg.  Va. 

Cav.,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  the  battle  of  Monocacy  in 

July,  1864,  where  he  was  captured.     He  remained  a  prisoner  until 

the  war  ended. 
T.H.— 41 


642  History  of  Tazewell  County 

The  45th  Regiment  Va.  Inf.  was  a  fine  body  of  troops^  but  was 
cut  to  pieces  by  overwhelming  numbers  at  Cloyd's  Farm  in  May^ 
1864^  and  in  the  following  June  w'as  almost  annihilated  at  the 
battle  of  Piedmont. 

The  next  company  organized  in  Tazewell  was  a  cavalry  com- 
panj',  known  through  the  war  as  the  "Tazewell  Troopers."  This 
company  was  organized  in  the  spring  of  1861,  and  became  Co.  H, 
8th  Reg.  Va.  Cav.  John  C.  McDonald  was  the  first  Captain.  He 
served  a  few  months  and  resigned.  He  was  succeeded  by  Geo.  W. 
Spotts  who  served  a  short  time  and  resigned  on  account  of  ill 
health.  T.  P.  Bowen  succeeded  Captain  Spotts  and  served  until 
he  was  promoted  to  major  about  the  beginning  of  the  year  1863. 
Captain  T.  P.  Bowen  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Henry  Bowen, 
who  served  until  he  was  captured  near  Winchester,  in  the  fall  of 
1864.  He  was  not  released  from  prison  until  the  war  was  ended. 
The  Lieutenants  of  this  company,  serving  the  last  year  of  the  war, 
w-ere  1st  Lieutenant  Abbott,  of  Raleigh  County,  West  Virginia,  2nd 
Lieut.  Joseph  S.  Moss ;  3rd  Lieut.  Austin  Peck,  Mercer  County, 
West  Virginia.  There  were  quite  a  number  of  Mercer  County  men 
who  joined  this  company  after  its  organization  and  served  in  it 
until  the  end  of  the  war. 

In  May,  1861,  there  were  three  other  companies  of  infantry 
organized,  one  of  which  became  Co.  C,  50tli  Regiment  Va.  Inf. 
This  company  was  commanded  by  Captain  Frank  Kelly  throughout 
the  war.  John  D.  Greever  of  Burke's  Garden  was  a  Lieutenant  in 
this  company  and  beyond  all  question  it  passed  through  a  greater 
number  of  big  battles  than  any  other  company  from  this  county. 
They  fought  from  Fort  Donelson  to  Appomattox.  Captain  Kelly 
and  the  most  of  the  50th  Regiment  were  captured  a  short  time 
before  the  war  ended. 

The  captains  of  the  other  two  companies  were  W.  P.  Cecil  and 
D.  B.  Baldwin.  These  companies  were  attached  to  the  23rd  Bat- 
talion, Va.  Inf.,  afterwards  known  as  "Derrick's  Battalion".  Bald- 
win's Company  was  Co.  D,  and  Cecil's  Company  Co.  C.  Capt.  Cecil 
was  promoted  to  major  of  the  battalion  and  was  succeeded  as  cap- 
tain by  George  Gose.  Major  Cecil  and  Captain  Gose  both  resigned 
in  the  spring  of  1862.  Captain  Gose  was  succeeded  by  F.  M.  Peery. 
Both  Captain  Baldwin  and  Captain  Peery  served  until  the  end  of 
the  war.     Oscar  Barns  and  James  H.  Gillespie  and  William  Witten 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


643 


were  lieutenants  in  Baldwin's  company.  H.  G.  Peery  was  a  lieu- 
tenant in  Peery's  company  and  had  command  of  the  Sharp  Shooters 
of  the  battalion. 

In  the  early  spring  of  1802,  there  were  four  more  companies 
organized.  Two  of  these  companies  were  attached  to  the  29th  Regi- 
ment, Va.  Inf.  as  Co.  I  and  Co.  H.     Co.  I  was  commanded  by  Cap- 


Captain  D.  B.  Baldwin  was  born  at  Christiansburg,  Virginia,  in 
August,  1832,  and  died  at  Bluefield,  W.  Va.,  in  August,  1916.  He 
came  to  Tazewell  in  1857,  and  for  more  than  twenty  years  was  one  of 
the  most  active  and  popular  citizens  of  the  county.  In  May,  1861,  he 
entered  the  Confederate  army  as  captain  of  Company  D,  23rd  Bat- 
talion, Virginia  Infantry,  and  served  faithfully  and  gallantly  in  that 
capacity  until  the  war  was  ended.  Captain  Baldwin  located  at  Blue- 
field,  West  Virginia,  in  1885,  when  that  now  thriving  city  was  nothing 
more  than  a  village;  and  from  that  time  until  a  brief  while  before 
his  death  he  was  actively  engaged  in  the  real  estate  business.  He 
accomplished  much  in  the  way  of  boosting  Bluefield,  where  his 
memory  is  cherished  by  many  devoted  friends. 

tain  Thomas  Peery  and  Co.  H  by  Captain  Ebenezer  Brewster.  Cap- 
tain Brewster  was  promoted  to  major  and  was  succeeded  as  captain 
by  William  Hankins.  Both  Captain  Hankins  and  Captain  Peery 
served  until  the  end  of  the  war. 

The  other  two  companies  were  organized  as  Independent  Par- 
tizan  Rangers.  One  of  them  was  commanded  by  Captain  William  L. 
Graham  and  the  other  by  Captain  Elias  V.  Harman.  The  lieute- 
anats  in  Graham's  Company  were:     1st,  W.  E.  Peery;  2nd,  Joshua 


644 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


Day;  3rd,  John  Woods.  In  Harman's:  1st.  D.  H.  Harman;  2nd, 
D.  G.  Savers.  These  companies  rendered  valuable  service  to  Taze- 
well County  during  the  summer  of  1862  by  disorganizing,  exterm- 
inating or  driving  away  bands  of  freebooters  that  infested  some  of 
the  border  counties.  In  the  fall  of  1862,  Captain  Graham's  com- 
pany was  divided  into  two  companies  and  attached  to  the  16th 
Regiment  Va.  Cavalry  as  Co.  F.  and  Company  I.  Captain  Graham 
was  made  Lieut.  Colonel  of  the  regiment.      He  was  wounded  near 


Captain  John  H.  Whitley  entered  the  service  of  the  Confederacy 
as  first  lieutenant  of  Co.  K,  45th  Virginia  Infantry,  in  May,  1861. 
Owing  to  the  promotion  of  the  captain  of  the  company.  Lieutenant 
Whitley  was  made  it.s  captain  a  few  months  after  he  went  into  sei-vice; 
and  he  sensed  in  that  capacity  until  the  spring  of  1862.  He  then 
joined  the  cavalry  as  a  lieutenant  in  Co.  I,  16th  Virginia  Cavalry;  and 
served  as  such  until  he  was  captured  at  the  battle  of  Monocacy  in 
July,  1864.  He  was  kept  in  prison  vmtil  the  end  of  the  w^ar.  Captain 
Whitley  was  bom  January  1st,  1842,  and  died  September  17th,  1918. 

Winchester  in  June.  1863.  and  captured  in  Moorefield  Aug.  7th, 
1864,  and  was  not  exchanged  vmtil  a  few  days  before  Gen.  Lee 
surrendered. 

Lieutenant  W.  E.  Peery  was  made  captain  of  Co.  I.  His  lieuten- 
ants were  Joshua  Day  (afterwards  resigned),  J.  H.  Whitley,  John 
Woods,  Samuel  Thompson  (killed  in  Maryland,  summer  of  1864) 
and  Ferdinand  Dunn.  Captain  W.  E.  Peery  lost  his  right  arm  and 
was  captured  at  the  battle  of  Boonesboro,  Md.,  in  June,  1863.  He 
was  imprisoned  on  Johnson's  Island  until  March,  1865,     The  com- 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


645 


pany  was  coniinandtil  by  one  of  tlic  litutcnatils  until  tlie  end  of  the 
war. 

Robt.  H.  Tayb)r  was  inadf  Ca])lain  of  C"o.  F.  The  lieutenants 
were  William  Bailey,  J.  H.  Fluinuur  and  W.  H.  H.  Witten.  Cap- 
tain Taylor  served  with  the  eoniijany  until  July,  ISCM,  when  he  dis- 
appeared and  did  not  return.  The  company  was  commanded  by 
Lieutenant  Wm.  Bailev  until  the  end  of  the  war. 


Captain  Jonathan  Hankins  was  bom  in  Tazewell  County  in  1840, 
and  died  April  8th,  1894.  He  organized  a  company  of  cavalry  in  the 
summer  of  1862,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  his  company  was  attached 
to  the  16th  Regiment,  Virginia  Cavalry.  Captain  Hankins  commanded 
the  company  until  the  war  ended,  and  was  an  excellent  officer  and 
soldier. 


In  the  fall  of  1862,  Captain  E.  V.  Harman,  being  past  military 
age,  resigned.  His  company,  together  with  some  State  Line  troops, 
was  divided  into  three  companies  and  attached  to  the  37th  Battalion 
Virginia  Cavalry,  known  as  "Witcher's  Battalion."  Captain  David 
G.  Savers,  Capt.  John  Yost  and  Captain  Crockett  Harrisson  (son 
of  Sandy  Joe)  commanded  these  companies.  D.  H.  Harman  was 
1st  Lieutenant  in  Sayers'  company.  Some  of  the  men  in  tliese 
companies  lived  in  McDowell  and  Buchanan  counties. 

Another  company  was  organized  in  the  summer  of  1862,  and  that 
fall  it  was  attached  as  Co.  C,  to  the  16th  Regiment  Va.  Cav. 
Jonathan  Hankins  was  Captain  and  served  through  the  war.     The 


646  History  of  Tazewell  County 

lieutenants  were  Julius  C.  Williams,  Milburn  Linkous  and  Milburn 
Barrett. 

There  were  three  companies  of  cavalry  organized  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1863.  Two  of  these  companies  formed  a  part  of  the  22nd 
Regiment  Va.  Cav.  and  were  commanded,  resiDectively,  by  Captains 
Balaam  Higginbotham  and  W.  W.  Brown.  Both  of  these  captains 
served  until  the  end  of  the  war.  Jesse  Bailey  was  a  lieutenant  in 
Brown's  company.  The  other  company  formed  a  part  of  the  10th 
Reg.  Ky.  Cavalry,  and  was  commanded  by  Captain  Elias  G.  W. 
Harman  until  the  end  of  the  war. 

There  was  a  company  organized  in  the  spring  of  1864,  com- 
posed of  boys  between  the  ages  of  seventeen  and  eighteen  years 
and  men  between  the  ages  of  forty-five  and  fifty.  This  company 
formed  a  part  of  the  13th  Battalion  Va.  Reserves  Inf.  and  was 
commanded  by  Captain  Samuel  L.  Graham.  The  13th  Battalion  Va. 
Reserves  was  commanded  by  Lt.  Col.  Robt.  Smith,  of  Tazewell 
County.  This  battalion  became  famous  at  the  first  battle  of  Salt- 
ville,  fought  Oct.  2nd,  1864.  They  held  their  ground,  with  the  grim 
determination  of  seasoned  veterans,  against  many  savage  attacks 
of  the  enemy.  They  received  great  praise  for  their  heroic  conduct 
from  the  veterans  engaged  in  that  battle.  The  conduct  of  this 
company  is  specially  mentioned  because  it  was  composed  of  boys 
and  old  men  who  had  never  been  under  fire  before  and  liad  but 
very  little  military  training.  John  Rutherford  was  1st  Lieutenant 
in  this  company. 

After  tlie  fall  of  Fort  Donelson,  General  John  B.  Floyd  retired 
from  the  regular  Confederate  Army.  The  State  of  Virginia  com- 
missioned him  Brigadier  General  of  State  Troops,  and  authorized 
him  to  raise  a  brigade  from  the  classes  not  included  in  the  conscript 
laws  of  the  Confederate  Government.  Pursuant  to  this  authority 
he  organized  a  Battalion  of  Infantry  as  a  nucleus  to  the  brigade. 
This  battalion  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Stuart  Houn- 
shell,  who  was  at  that  time  a  citizen  of  Tazewell  County,  and  had 
been  major  of  the  51st  Reg.  Va.  Inf.  This  battalion  was  encamped 
at  Wytheville  for  some  time,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  of 
1862.  They  moved  from  Wytheville  to  this  county  and  encamped 
for  about  a  month  in  Abb's  Valley.  This  battalion  was  composed 
of  men  from  most  all  the  European  nations  and  men  from  every 
section   of  the   United   States.      It   was   truly   a   motley   crew,   the 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


647 


equal,  in  that  respect,  to  the  French  Foreign  Legion.  Some  of  the 
greatest  criminals  of  the  time  were  in  it.  Elegantly  refined  and 
highly  educated  gentlemen  were  there — two  nephews  of  President 
Jefferson  Davis,  the  Balfour  boys,  were  captains  in  this  battalion. 
Some  of  these  men  had  been  with  Walker  on  his  ill-fated  expedi- 
tion to  Nicaraugua.  Some  of  them  had  been  soldiers  in  the  last 
war  between  France  and  Austria,  and  most  all  of  them,  had 
belonged  to  Wheat's  famous  battalion,  the  "Louisiana  Tigers."    This 


Captain  James  S.  Peery  was  the  son  of  Hai-vey  George  Peery, 
and  grandson  of  Thomas  Peery,  the  pioneer.  He  was  bom  June  6th, 
1837,  and  died  September  7th,  1905.  In  May,  1861,  he  entered  the 
Confederate  sei-vice  as  first  lieutenant  of  Co.  G,  45th  Virginia  Infantry; 
and  in  the  spring  of  1862  became  captain  of  that  company.  Captain 
Peery  was  captured  by  the  Federals  at  the  battle  of  Piedmont,  June 
5th,  1864,  and  was  confined  as  a  prisoner  at  Johnson's  Island  until 
the  conclusion  of  the  war. 

battalion  had  disintegrated  since  the  death  of  their  commander. 
Colonel  Wheat,  and  the  most  of  them  had  joined  this  State  Line 
Battalion. 

From  Abb's  Valley  the  battalion  moved  down  the  Tug  Fork  of 
Big  Sandy  to  a  point  below  Warfield  and  fought,  successfully,  some 
small  battles  while  on  this  expedition.  In  the  meantime  there  was 
great  activity  in  organizing  a  battalion  of  State  Line  troops  in 
Tazewell  County.  Several  companies  were  enrolled,  captains  and 
lieutenants  elected.  These  companies  were  organized  into  a  bat- 
talion.    But  about  the  time  of  the  organization  the  conscript  laws 


648 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


of  the  Confederate  Government  were  extended  so  as  to  include  all 
the  men  in  the  State  Line  service^  and  it  was  reported  that  the  men 
of  this  battalion  scattered,  in  every  direction,  from  their  ema^np- 
ment,  the  first  night  after  its  organization.  The  sole  result  of  this 
organization  was  the  dissemination  of  numerous  empty  military 
titles.  The  men.  who  had  joined  this  battalion,  were  absorbed  by 
different  regiments  in  the  regular  Confederate  Army, 


Captain  A.  J.  Tynes  was  not  a  native  of  Tazewell  County,  but  was 
living  there  when  the  Civil  War  began.  He  entered  the  service  of 
the  Confederacy  a.s  a  member  of  the  Tazewell  Troopers  and  served 
with  that  company  until  he  was  commissioned  captain  in  the  Field 
Commissary  Department  and  attached  to  McCausland's  Brigade. 
Captain  Tynes  was  with  his  brigade  in  a  number  of  campaigns  and  was 
with  it  at  Petersburg  and  at  Appomattox.  He  was  bom  in  Campbell 
County,  Virginia,  Nov.  29th,  1833,  and  died  at  Tazewell  on  Nov.  11th, 
1914. 


I  have  never  made  any  eft'ort  to  post  myself  as  to  the  officers 
of  this  State  Line  Battalion,  from  the  fact  that  they  saw  no  service, 
while  in  this  organization,  to  entitle  them  to  be  classed  as  soldiers. 

In  the  spring  of  I86i  there  was  organized  at  Falls  Mills  a 
Home  Guard  company,  composed  of  boys  from  15  to  17  years  of 
age,  and  men  from  50  to  65  years  old.  This  was  done  to  protect 
the  community  against  threatened  invasions  and  outrages.  Two 
Union  Home  Guard  companies  had  been  organized  and  were  operait- 
ing  in  the  counties  of  McDowell  and  Wyoming.     These  companies 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


649 


were  a  constant  menace  to  the  neighborhoods  of  Abb's  Valley  and 
Falls  Mills.  There  were  no  regular  Confederate  soldiers  left  in 
that  section  of  the  county  and  these  l^nion  Home  Guards  had  already 
committed  several  serious  outrages  on  defenceless  families^,  so  it 
was  up  to  the  old  men  and  the  boys  of  the  neighborhood  to  put  on  a 
bold  front  or  else  tamely  submit  to  being  robbed  by  a  gang  of 
cowardly  thieves. 


Captain  John  Thompson  was  a  great-grandson  of  William 
Thompson,  and  was  bom  in  Thompson  Valley,  July  8th,  1837.  He 
enlisted  in  the  Confederate  amiy  in  May,  1861,  as  a  lieutenant  in  Co. 
A,  45th  Virginia  Infantry;  and  in  the  spring  of  1862  was  made  cap- 
tain of  the  company.  He  commanded  that  company  in  all  subsequent 
campaigns  until  he  was  captured  by  the  Federals  in  the  Valley  of 
Virginia  in  the  spring  of  1865;  and  was  confined  at  Fort  Delaware 
until  June,  1865.  Captain  Thompson  was  elected  Sheriff  of  Tazewell 
County  in  1867;  and  moved  to  California  in  1870,  where  he  died  in 
Febi-uary,  1882. 

About  30  old  men  and  boys  met  at  Falls  Mills  and  obligated 
themselves  in  the  most  solemn  maimer  to  defend  the  communities 
of  Abb's  Valley  and  Falls  Mills  against  invasion  by  these  Union 
Home  Guards.  Dr.  R.  W.  Witten,  an  ex-army  surgeon,  was  elected 
Captain,  James  H.  Tabor,  1st  Lieutenant,  Theopholis  Arms,  2nd 
Lieutenant,  Isaac  O'Donnell,  3rd  Lieutenant,  W.  Scott  Witten, 
Orderly  Sergeant.  These  officers  did  not  ask  for  commissions  from 
the  government,  nor  did  they  ask  that  the  company  be  recognized  as 
an  organization  of  the  Confederate  Army.     They  realized  that  the 


650 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


Confederate  Army  was  unable  to  protect  them,  so  they  determined 
to  protect  themselves,  and  the  results  show  how  well  this  company 
performed  its  duties.  There  was  not  another  robbery  committed 
by  those  Home  Guards  near  Falls  Mills  or  Abb's  Valley  until  after 
the  war  ended.  About  a  week  after  tlic  war  ended,  one  of  these 
Union  Home  Guard  companies  appeared,  just  at  daylight,  in  the 


Captain  James  P.  Whitman  is  tho  unly  Tazowell  man  now  sur- 
viving who  held  the  rank  of  captain  in  the  Confederate  army.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  war  he  was  a  student  at  the  academy  of  Col.  Titus 
V.  Williams  at  JefFersonville,  and  was  made  a  lieutenant  in  Company 
K,  45th  Virginia  Infantry,  of  which  company  Col.  Williams  was  the 
first  captain.  Captain  Whitman  sensed  as  a  lieutenant  until  the  spring 
of  1862,  when  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  cavalry  company  of 
Capt.  Wm.  E.  Peery,  which  later  became  a  part  of  the  16th  Virginia 
Cavalry  as  Company  I.  He  was  made  adjutant  of  this  regiment,  and 
served  as  such  until  the  end  of  the  war.  He  was  at  Gettysburg,  and 
in  all  the  campaigns  in  which  his  regiment  participated,  including  the 
retreat  from  Petersburg  and  the  surrender  at  Appomattox.  His 
sui-viving  comrades  pronounce  him  a  daring  and  faithful  soldier. 
Captain  Whitman  is  the  present  Inspector  General  of  the  Grand  Camp 
of  Virginia  Confederate  Veterans. 


mouth  of  Abb's  Valley,  at  the  homes  of  Wm.  H.  Witten  and  John 
Calfee.  They  took  10  or  12  horses  and  robbed  the  homes  of  all 
the  household  plunder  they  could  carry  away,  and  then  made  their 
escape  as  rapidly  as  possible.  The  Falls  Mills  company,  before 
the  war  ended,  had  made  several  efforts  to  get  in  contact  with  this 
Union  Home  Guard  Company,  but  was  never  able  to  catch  up  with  it. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  651 

LIST   OF   FIELD   OFFICERS  AND   OTHER  REGIMENTAL   OFFICERS   FROM 
TAZEWELL  COUNTY,  WHO  SERVED  IN   THE   CONFEDERATE  ARMY. 

T.  V.  Williams,  Colonel,  37th  Regiment  Va.  Infantry,  wounded 
1862-3. 

Henry  Bowen,  Colonel,  22nd  Regiment  Va.  Cavalry. 

William  Browne,  Colonel,  45th  Regiment  Va.  Infantry,  killed 
Piedmont,  1864.. 

A.  J.  May,  Colonel,  10th  Regiment  Ky.  Cavalry. 

Edwin  Harman,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  ■i5th  Regiment  Va.  Infan- 
try, killed  Cloyd's  Farm,  1864. 

W.  L.  Graham,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  16th  Regiment  Va.  Cavalry, 
wounded  1863,  captured  1864. 

Stuart  Hounshell,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  51st  Regiment  Va.  Infan- 
try and  Floyd's  State  Line  Battalion. 

Robt.  Smith,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  13th  Battalion  Va.  Infantry 
Reserves. 

T.  P.  Bowen,  Major,  8th  Regiment  Va.  Cavalry. 

Ebenezer  Brewster,  Major,  29th  Regiment  Va.  Infantry. 

W.  P.  Cecil,  Major,  23rd  Battalion  Va.  Infantry. 

E.  A.  Holmes,  Major,  Staff  Officer,  captured  1864. 

Rufus  Brittain,  Adjutant,  29th  Regiment  Va.  Infantry. 

J.  P.  Whitman,  Adjutant,  16th  Regiment  Va.  Cavalry. 

Eli  Steel,  Adjutant,  22nd  Regiment  Va.   Cavalry,  killed   1864. 

A.  J.  Tynes,  Captain,  Field  Comissary  Dept.,  McCausland's 
Brigade. 

Dr.  W.  P.  Floyd,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  J.  M.  Estill,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Jas  Peery,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Thos.  Cecil,  Surgeon. 

A.  J.  May  was  a  resident  of  Prestonburg,  Kentucky,  at  the  time 
the  war  began.  He  joined  the  5th  Kentucky  Infantry  at  Preston- 
burg, and  became  Lt.  Col.  of  the  regiment.  This  regiment  remained 
in  the  infantry  service  until  late  in  the  fall  of  1862,  when,  from 
some  cause,  it  was  disbanded.  The  most  of  the  men  who  had 
belonged  to  this  regiment  were  organized  into  tlie  10th  Ky.  Cavalry. 
Colonel  May  became  Colonel  of  this  regiment.  In  tlie  meantime, 
soon  after   the  beginning  of  the   war,  he   moved  his   family   from 


652  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Prestonburg  to  Tazewell,  where  he  resided  until  his  death,  whieli 
oeeiirred  about  forty  years  after  tlie  war. 


If  there  is  a  neighborhood  in  Tazewell  County  that  deserves  a 
separate  page  in  history  for  the  part  it  took,  and  the  sacrifice  it 
made,  in  the  Civil  War,  it  is  the  section  of  the  count}'  around  Falls 
Mills,  inside  of  a  radius  of  two  miles. 

There  were  thirty-seven  men  from  this  section  who  went  into 
the  Confederate  Army;  the  most  of  them  were  small  farmers  or 
the  sons  of  small  farmers,  two  or  three  of  them  were  mechanics — 
there  was  but  one  man  among  them  who  belonged  to  the  slaveholding 
class. 

These  men  were  scattered  among  eleven  different  regiments. 
Eleven  of  them  belonged  to  the  16th  Va.  Cav.,  six  to  the  29th  Va. 
Inf.,  six  to  the  50th  Va.  Inf.,  five  to  the  8th  V^a.  Cav.,  two  to  the 
23rd  Bat.  Va.  Inf.,  two  to  the  ISth  Va.  Inf.,  one  to  the  4th  Va.  Inf., 
Stonewall  Brigade,  one  to  the  24th  Va.  Inf.,  one  to  the  54th  Va. 
Inf.,  one  to  the  51st  Va.  Inf.,  and  one  to  the  13th  Bat.  Va.  Res.  Inf. 

Eight  of  these  men  were  killed  in  action,  five  of  them  died  of 
disease  in  the  service,  and  thirteen  of  them  were  wounded,  making 
a  total  casualty  list  of  twentj'-six,  which  equals  a  fraction  over 
seventy  per  cent  of  all  those  in  the  service. 

THE   NAMES   OF   THESE   SOLDIERS   WERE   AS   FOLLOWS: 

Alexander  Arms,  8th  Va.  Cav.,  killed  near  Staunton,  Va.,  Nov. 
1864. 

W.  J.  Buckland,  50th  Va.  Inf.,  wounded  at  Wilderness,  May, 
1864. 

Hugh  Buckland,  50th  Va.  Inf.,  wounded  at  Chancellorsville, 
May,  1863. 

John  W.  Buckland,  16th  Va.  Cav.,  wounded  at  Gettysburg,  July, 
1863. 

Robert  Belcher,  16th  Va.  Cav.,  wounded  near  Wayne,  W.  Va., 
Jan.,  1864. 

Obediah  Belcher,  2yth  Va.  Inf..  killed  at  Drewry's  Bluff,  May, 
1864. 

I.  Green  Belcher,  23rd.  Va.  Inf.  Battalion. 

James  Bargar,  29th  Va.  Inf. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  653 

W.  E.  Butt,  l.'Jth  Bat.  Va.  Reserves. 

Billiard  P.  Conipton,  16tli  Va.  Cav.,  wounded  at  Moorefield, 
Aug.  7th,  1864.. 

Eliliue  Conipton,  16th  Va.  Cav.,  wounded  at  Gettysburg,  July, 
1863. 

Thos.  Dangerfield,  16th  Va.  Cav..  killed  near  Wayne,  W.  Va., 
Jan.,  1864. 

Ransom  Diidley,  4th  Va.  Inf.,  wounded  (lost  arm),  Gettysburg, 
July,  1863. 

Frank  Dudley,  8th  Va.  Cav. 

James  Dudley,  8th  Va.  Cav. 

A.  J.  Dudley,  8th  Va.  Cav. 

William  Dudley,  29th  Va.  Inf.,  died  in  summer  of  1862. 

Thos.  Ferguson,  50th  Va.  Inf.,  killed  at  Chancellorsville,  May, 
1863. 

W.  L.  Graham,  Lt.  Col.,  16th  Va.  Cav.,  wounded  near  Win- 
chester, June,  1863. 

Jno.  A.  Hambriek,  29th  Va.  Inf.,  died  in  summer  of  1862. 

C.  A.  Hale,  8th  Va.  Cav. 

Madison  Mullin,  50th  Va.  Inf.,  killed  at  Chancellorsville,  May, 
1863. 

Austin  Mullin,  54th  Va.  Inf. 

William  Prunty,  23rd  Bat.  Va.  Inf.,  died  in  spring,  1862. 

Jesse  Poe,  24th  Va.  Inf.,  killed  at  INIalvern  Hill,  July  1,  1862. 

William  Poe,  50th  Va.  Inf.,  died  in  summer  of  1862. 

Kiah  Poe,  29th  Va.  Inf.,  wounded  at  Drewry's  Bluff,  May,  1864 

Zach  Poe,  16th  Va.  Cav.,  wounded  in  camp,  accident,  1864. 

David  Shufflebarger.  51st  Va.  Inf.,  wounded  (lost  leg)  at  New 
Market,  May,  1864. 

Elbert  Tabor,  16th  Va.  Cav.,  killed  near  Wayne,  W.  Va.,  Jan. 
1864. 

Andrew  Tabor,  16th  Va.  Cav.,  killed  at  Moorefield,  Aug.  7, 
1864. 

John  A.  Tabor,  50th  Va.  Inf.,  wounded  at  Chancellorsville,  May, 
1864. 

Thomas  E.  Tabor,  29th  Va.  Inf. 

Henry  Tabor,  45th  Va.  Inf.,  wounded  at  Fayette  C.  H.,  Sept. 
1862. 

W.  J.  Tabor,  16th  Va.  Cav. 


654  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Daniel  Wagner,  45th  Va.  Inf.,  died  in  1861. 

George  Williams,  16th  Va.  Cav. 

The  casualties  sustained  by  the  troops  from  all  over  the  North- 
east corner  of  Tazewell  County  were  almost  as  great  as  those 
sustained  by  the  Falls  Mills  neighborhood.  Manj^  of  these  men 
died  of  tyjDhoid  fever,  among  them  were  Trigg  Tabor,  Augustus 
Tabor,  Hugh  Tabor,  Jefferson  Tabor  (died  in  prison),  Wm.  Dillon, 
Ransom  Prunty,  David  Crockett,  William  Crockett,  Jordan  Harless, 
Charles  McDowell,  Giles  Parker,  Dennis  Stowers,  Geo.  Doughton, 
Harrison  Tiller,  David  Workman  and  Hugh  Wilson. 

Among  those  killed  in  action  and  died  of  wounds,  were  Thomas 
Dillon  (son  of  Jeff),  Robt.  Moore,  William  Moore,  Montgomery 
Faulkner,  Jesse  Osborne,  George  Gill,  Robt.  Gill,  Lt.  Col.  Edwin 
Harman,  Gordon  Carter,  Augustus  Carter  and  Thomas  East.  There 
were  a  number  of  others  wounded. 

There  was  an  unfortunate  condition  of  affairs  that  prevailed  in 
the  extreme  Nortlieast  corner  of  the  county  during  the  last  year  of 
the  war.  A  few  soldiers  from  that  section  were  at  home,  absent 
from  the  army  without  leave.  Two  factions  sprang  up  among  them, 
and  the  result  was  a  bitter  feud,  in  which  four  men  lost  their  lives. 
Mark  Perdue,  a  well-behaved,  harmless  young  man,  was  the  first 
victim  of  this  feud.  The  next  men  killed  were  John  Fletcher  and 
Osborne  Dillon.  The  last  victim  was  Samuel  Hamill,  who  lost  his 
life  about  the  time  the  war  ended. 

To  the  credit  of  both  parties  to  this  feud,  it  can  be  truly  said 
that  neither  faction  gave  any  trouble  to  people  outside  of  the  feudists 
themselves,  and  but  one  or  two  individuals  among  them  ever  affil- 
iated with  the  Union  Home  Guard  marauders,  who  were  a  standing 
menace  to  this  section  during  the  last  year  of  the  war. 


Post  Bellum  or  Development  Period 


Showing  the  Progress  Made  by  Tazewell 

County  Following  the  Civil  War 

and  Reconstruction 


POST  BELLUM  OR  DEVELOPMENT 
PERIOD 


CHAPTl'Jl  I. 

COl  NTY    KEC'OVKHH    FKOM    KI'M'KCTS    OF    CIVII,    WAR. 

The  period  of  recovery  and  readjustment  from  tlie  evil  effects 
of  the  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction  actually  began  as  soon  as  the 
new  Constitution  of  Virginia  was  put  in  force  and  reorganization  of 


Residence  built  by  Thomas  Witten,  third,  in  1838.  Situated  four 
miles  west  of  Tazewell,  on  Cumberland  Gap  and  Fincastle  Turnpike. 
Now  residence  of  John  C.  St. Clair. 

the  county  government  of  Tazewell  was  effected.  And  the  recovery 
was  given  increased  momentum  when  the  public  free  schools  were 
recognized  as  a  valuable  asset  for  the  county  rather  than  a  burden 
to  the  taxpayers.  DesiDite  the  retardments  occasioned  by  the  war, 
and  the  heavy  financial  loss  suffered  from  the  freeing  of  1.200 
slaves  in  Tazewell,  the  wealth  of  the  county  was  not  seriously 
impaired.  As  soon  as  the  war  was  over  the  farmers  commenced  to 
clear  up  for  cultivation  and  grazing  purposes  boundaries  that  had 

T.H.— 42  (  657  ) 


658  History  of  Tazewell  County 

been  left  covered  with  virgin  forest  growth,  and  tims  added  largely 
to  the  area  of  improved  lands. 

The  population  had  increased  from  9,920  in  1860  to  10,701  in 
1870.  Although  the  assessed  value  of  real  estate  in  the  county  was 
but  $1,790,425  in  1870  as  against  $3,104,524  in  1860,  this  anomal- 
ous condition  was  evidently  induced  by  heavy  increases  in  tax  rates, 
and  a  consequent  inclination  on  the  part  of  the  landowners  to  have 
their  lands  assessed  as  low  as  possible.  The  assessors  were  gen- 
erally in  sympathy  with  this  low  assessment  idea,  and  there  was 
no  actual  depreciation  in  the  sales  values  of  lands  in  Tazewell 
County,  resultant  from  the  Civil  War.  A  disposition  to  keep 
assessments  low  is  still  manifest  in  Tazewell,  and  in  all  the  counties 
of  Southwest  Virginia.  In  fact,  the  disposition  prevails  in  nearly 
all  the  rural  sections  of  the  State.  There  are  several  good  reasons 
that  can  be  assigned  for  this  disposition  of  the  landowners  of  Taze- 
well County,  and  of  Southwest  Virginia,  to  cling  tenaciously  to  the 
idea  of  low  assessments.  One  potent  reason  is,  that  in  Tazewell, 
and  in  many  sections  of  Southwest  Virginia,  a  very  large  percentage 
of  the  improved  lands  have  advanced  in  price  until  fancy  values  have 
been  placed  upon  them ;  and  at  pi-iccs  very  far  beyond  their  actual 
value  for  purely  agricultural  purposes.  If  they  were  assessed  at 
approximately  these  fancy  values,  they  would  cease  to  be  paying 
investments.  But  the  chief  reason  for  a  continuance  of  low  assess- 
ments is  the  enormous  increase  in  the  cost  of  government.  The 
Federal  Government  now  spends  billions  where  it  formerly  spent  a 
few  hundred  millions;  the  State  Government  costs  the  taxpayers 
three  or  four  times  as  much  annually  as  it  did  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  ago;  and  all  local  governments  in  Virginia — municipal,  county, 
and  district — have  increased  their  expenditures  in  like  proportion. 
The  taxpayers  vei-y  reasonably  apprehend  that  an  increase  in  the 
assessed  value  of  their  real  estate  to  its  actual  value  would  not 
lower  the  tax  rates  now  imposed;  but  would  serve  to  swell  the 
revenues  and  stimulate  the  extravagance  and  waste  that  prevail  in 
the  several  governments  they  are  compelled  to  help  maintain. 

As  early  as  1852  tlie  people  of  Southwest  Virginia  became 
deeply  concerned  about  railroads.  The  Virginia  &  Tennessee  Rail- 
road had  been  chartered  by  the  Virginia  General  Assembly  in  1847, 
to  be  built  from  Lynchburg  to  the  present  city  of  Bristol,  a  distance 
of  204  miles.     The  route  had  been  surveyed  and  the  road  bed  was 


and  Southwest  Virginia 


659 


being  graded  in  1851-52.  When  Dr.  Biekley  wrote  and  published 
his  history  in  1852,  he  tried  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  i^eojjle  of 
Tazewell  to  the  important  matter  of  securing  railwaj'^  facilities  for 
the  development  of  the  agricultural  interests  and  mineral  and  other 
natural  resources  of  the  county.  At  tliat  time  the  farmers  of  Taze- 
well  were  not  cultivating  their   land   in  a   scientific  way;   and  did 


Dr.  George  Ben  -Johnston  was  born  in  the  towTi  of  Tazewell,  then 
Jeffersonville,  on  July  25th,  1853,  and  died  in  Richmond,  Virginia, 
December  20th,  1916.  He  was  descended  from  hardy  pioneers,  who 
were  prominent  as  daring  soldiers  and  distinguished  citizens — the 
Bowens,  Prestons,  Floyds,  and  Johnstons — and  who  helped  to  prepare 
Southwest  Virginia  as  an  ideal  home  for  American  freemen.  And  he 
is  recorded  as  the  most  noted  professional  man  who  was  a  native  son 
of  Tazewell.  His  great  skill  as  a  surgeon  placed  him  in  the  front  rank 
of  his  profession.  He  was  so  highly  esteemed  by  his  fellows  that  he 
was  elected,  without  opposition.  President  of  the  "American  Surgical 
Association,"  the  highest  and  most  coveted  honor  to  which  an  American 
surgeon  can  aspire.  His  devotion  to  Tazewell  was  so  intense  that  he 
kept  on  the  mantel  of  his  private  office  a  bottle  of  rich  soil  procured 
from  the  old  Floyd  estate  in  Burke's  Garden,  which  he  told  his  friends 
was  to  be  deposited  in  his  grave  when  he  was  buried.  I  have  been 
informed  by  his  sister  that  his  wishes  were  complied  with. 


not  seem  to  be  eager  to  have  a  railroad  penetrate  the  countv.     Biek- 
ley  said: 

"Give  us  railroads,  and  let  the  press  make  known  the  claims  of 
Southwestern  Virginia,  and  the  'gee  up'  of  the  New  England  plow- 
boy  will  soon  be  heard  upon  our  mountain  sides.     Our  mountaineers 


660  History  of  Tazewell  County 

will  soon  be  seen  trading  in  Richmond.  Baltimore,  Philadelphia, 
New  York,  and  Boston.  Our  neglected  fields  will  bloom  under  the 
hands  of  scientific  agriculturists,  till  wagons  will  no  more  be  seen 
passing  westward  with  men  to  build  States  on  the  ruins  of  those  they 
have  left." 

During  the  year  1852  a  number  of  families — some  of  the 
Wynnes,  Peerys,  Wittens,  and  others — moved  from  Tazewell  to 
Missouri.  Lands  were  then  very  cheap  in  Missouri,  while  such  land 
as  the  "movers"  left  in  Tazewell  was  worth  from  forty  to  fifty 
dollars  an  acre.  Therefore,  it  must  liave  been  INIissouri's  cheap 
lands  and  not  dissatisfaction  with  conditions  in  Tazewell  that  caused 
the  migrations  of  which  Bicklev  complains. 

In  writing  of  the  minerals.  Bickley  said  they  were  "both  num^- 
erous  and  important — silver,  iron,  lead,  arsenic,  sulphur,  salt,  niter, 
gypsum,  and  large  quantities  of  coal."  Speaking  of  the  coal  he 
said: 

"Coal  exists  everywhere,  though  wood  is  so  plenty  that  it  has  not 
been  used  as  fuel  to  any  extent ;  hence,  no  search  has  been  made 
for  it.  Bituminous,  and.  probably,  cannel  coal,  exist  in  great  quan- 
tities. The  nearest  to  Jeffersonville  that  has  yet  been  discovered, 
is  on  the  lands  of  G.  W.  G.  Browne,  in  Poor  Valley,  about  four  and 
a  half  miles  from  JeffersonAille.  It  is  thought  that  coal  does  not 
exist  on  the  head  branches  of  Clinch  River,  but  I  imagine  the  sup- 
position has  no  foundation.  It  has  been  fouTid  below,  and  in  every 
direction  arouuil.  and.  no  doubt,  exists  generally  through  the  county. 
AVhcn  shall  we  have  an  outlet  for  this  coal? 

Dr.  Bickley  had  very  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  coal  bearing 
sections  of  Tazewell  County;  but  his  confident  expectation  that 
these  coal  de}X)sits  would  prove  of  great  value  and  ultimately  be 
placed  in  the  markets  of  the  world  were  well  founded.  An  answer 
to  his  question:  "^^Hien  shall  we  have  an  outlet  for  this  coal  .^" 
was  made  just  thirty  years  afterward  by  shipments  of  coal  from 
Pocahontas. 


In  1871.  General  G.  C.  Wharton  was  representing  Montgomery 
County  in  the  Virginia  House  of  Delegates.  He  was  acquainted 
with    the    extensive    deposits    of    coal    in    the    Flat    Top    Mountain 


and  Southwest  Virginia  661 

region;  and  for  tlie  piirpo.st-  of  (kxcloping  tlit-  coal  beds  of  that 
country  obtained  a  charter  from  the  Legislature  on  March  7th, 
1872,  incorporating  "Tlie  New  River  Railroad,  Mining  and  Manu- 
facturing Company."  The  incorjxirators  named  in  the  act  were: 
John  B.  Radford,  Jolni  T.  Cowan,  Joseph  Cloyd,  James  A.  Walker, 
William  T.  Yancey,  William  Mahone,  Charles  W.  Statham,  Joseph 
H.  Chunibley,  A.  H.  Flannigan,  Philip  W.  Strother,  John  C. 
Snidow,  Joseph  H.  Hoge,  William  Eggleston,  G.  C.  Wharton,  Wil- 
liam Adair,  James  A.  Harvey,  A.  A.  Chapman,  Robert  W.  Hughes, 
A.  N.  Johnston,  ILlbert  Fowler,  David  E.  Johnston,  John  A. 
Douglas,  W.  H.  French,  R.  B.  McNutt,  James  M.  Bailey  and  A. 
Gooch. 

The  charter  gave  the  company  authority  "to  construct,  maintain, 
and  operate  a  railroad  from  New  River  depot,  a  point  on  the  line 
of  the  Virginia  and  Tennessee  division  of  the  Atlantic,  Mississippi 
and  Ohio  Railroad  Companj',  in  the  county  of  Pulaski  and  State 
of  Virginia,  to  such  a  point  as  may  be  agreed  upon  at  or  near  the 
head-waters  of  Camp  Creek,  in  the  countj^  of  Mercer  and  State  of 
West  Virginia." 

The  charter  also  empoweied  the  company  to  engage  in  mining 
coal,  and  iron  and  other  ores,  to  acquire  ownership  of  land  for 
mining  and  manufacturing  purposes,  and  to  build  branch  roads  for 
bringing  out  ores  in  certain  counties  of  Virginia  and  West  Virginia. 

Deep  interest  was  awakened  in  Tazewell  by  the  chartering  and 
organizing  of  the  New  River  Railroad,  Mining  and  Manufacturing 
Company.  It  gave  promise  of  a  realization  of  the  long  indulged 
hope  that  an  outlet  by  rail  would  be  obtained  for  shipment  of  the 
abundant  products  and  minerals  of  the  county.  Schemes  were 
promptly  devised  and  projected  by  interested  citizens  to  have  a 
branch  road  built  to  Tazewell.  But  such  enterprises  in  that  day 
were  very  slow  in  reaching  a  practical  form. 

There  was  then  very  little  capital  that  could  be  gotten  in  Vir- 
ginia for  such  work  as  was  contemplated  by  General  Wharton  and 
his  associates;  and  they  were  compelled  to  seek  assistance  from 
capitalists  in  Philadelphia  and  other  places  at  the  North.  Certain 
shrewd  financiers  and  promoters  in  Philadelphia  in  this  way  learned 
of  the  mineral  riches  of  the  great  Flat  Top  coal  region.  They 
immediately  sought  to  identifj'  themselves  with  the  New  River 
Railroad,  Mining  and  Manufacturing  Company,  with  the  intention 


682  History  of  jTazewell  County 

of  getting  control  of  its  franchises  and  displacing  the  original 
incorporators.  Their  schemes  were  cumiingly  devised  and  were 
worked  out  successfully.  They  got  control  of  the  franchises  of  the 
company  and  reorganized  it  under  the  name  of  The  New  River 
Railroad. 

General  William  Mahone^  after  several  years  of  strenuous  effort, 
got  the  Virginia  General  Assembly  to  pass  an  act  on  June  17th, 
1870,  for  merging  and  consolidating  the  Norfolk  &  Petersburg  Rail- 
road Company,  the  Southside  Railroad  Company,  and  the  Virginia 
&  Tennessee  Railroad  Company  into  a  single  line,  and  forming  it 
into  the  Atlantic,  Mississippi  &  Ohio  Railroad.  The  merging  of 
these  three  roads,  giving  a  through  line  from  the  Seaboard  at 
Norfolk  to  Bristol,  a  distance  of  four  hundred  and  eight  miles,  v/as 
of  immense  value  to  Southwest  Virginia;  but  it  was  bitterly  opposed 
by  many  citizens  of  this  section. 

At  the  organization  of  the  new  company.  General  Mahone  was 
made  president  and  became  its  active  and  efficient  manager.  He 
raised  money  by  mortgages,  purchased  new  rails  from  English 
manufacturers,  paying  for  them  with  bonds  of  the  company ;  and 
put  the  line  in  excellent  condition.  The  rails  proved  to  be  of  very 
inferior  quality,  the  British  manufacturers  having  perpetrated  a 
base  fraud  upon  General  Mahone.  An  awful  financial  panic  came 
on  in  the  United  States  in  1873.  It  so  greatly  reduced  the  earnings 
of  the  Atlantic,  Mississippi  &  Ohio  Railroad,  that  the  company 
failed  on  October  1st,  187-i,  and  on  April  1st,  1875,  to  pay  the  semi- 
annual interest  on  its  mortgage  indebtedness. 

These  delinquencies  caused  the  bondholders  and  other  creditors 
to  institute  proceedings  in  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  for  the 
Eastern  District  of  Virginia,  asking  for  the  appointment  of  a 
receiver.  Philadelphians  engineered  tiie  movement,  and  a  Philadel- 
pliian  was  appointed  receiver.  He  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  com- 
pany until  the  road  was  sold  under  a  decree  of  the  court.  The  sale 
was  made  on  the  10th  of  February,  1881,  and  Clarence  M.  Clark 
and  associates,  of  Philadelphia,  became  the  purchasers. 

On  the  9th  of  May,  1882,  the  New  River  Railroad  Company  of 
Virginia,  the  New  River  Railroad  Company  of  West  Virginia,  and 
tlie  East  River  Railroad  Company  of  West  Virginia  were  consoli- 
dated into  the  Norfolk  &  Western  Railroad  Company. 

Survej'S  having  been  completed  the  Norfolk  &  Western  Railroad 


and  Southwest  Virginia  663 

Company,  on  tlie  3rd  of  August,  1881,  commenced  the  construction 
of  its  New  River  branch  line  from  the  main  line  at  New  River 
Depot  to  Pocahontas.  The  grading  of  the  road  down  the  western 
banks  of  New  River  to  the  mouth  of  East  River — thence  up  that 
river  to  where  the  city  of  Bluefield  is  now  located;  and  thence  to 
Pocahontas — was  both  difficult  and  expensive.  But  tlie  work  w^as 
carried  on  rapidly;  and  the  grading  and  track  laying  were  completed 
to  Pocahontas  on  May  21st,  1883.  The  first  shipment  of  coal  from 
the  Pocahontas  mines  was  made  on  the  ■ —  of  June,  1883. 
Although  the  road  ran  but  a  short  distance  on  Tazewell  soil,  along 
the  northeastern  border  of  the  county  and  in  sight  of  the  Mercer 
County  line,  it  was  well  understood  that  another  line  would  soon  be 
built  to  and  down  the  Clinch  Valley.  A  charter  was  obtained  for 
this  line  on  the  6th  day  of  April,  1887;  and,  at  a  meeting  of  the 
stockliolders  of  the  Norfolk  &  Western  Company,  held  subsequently, 
authority  was  given  the  directors  of  that  company  to  consolidate  the 
Clinch  Valley  extension  with  the  Norfolk  &  Western.  Work  was 
begun  on  the  Clinch  Valley  line  on  the  20th  of  June,  1887.  and 
before  the  end  of  the  year  1888  trains  wei-e  running  along  the 
Clinch  through  the  entire  length  of  the  county. 

The  whistlings  of  the  locomotives  and  the  rumblings  of  the 
heavily  laden  trains,  as  they  moved  up  and  down  the  Clinch  Valley, 
not  only  brought  joy  and  increased  comforts  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Tazewell,  but  were  destined  to  be  the  carriers  of  vast  wealth  to 
the  county.  Extensive  developments  of  the  Pocahontas  and  Flat 
Top  coal  beds  brought  thousands  of  miners  and  thousands  of  other 
consumers  to  that  region,  and  established  good  markets  for  many 
farm  products  that  previously  had  not  been  transported  from  the 
county  on  account  of  their  perishable  nature.  Eggs,  fowls,  butter, 
fruits,  vegetables,  and  Tazewell's  famous  bacon  found  ready  sale 
in  the  coal  fields.  Bluefield  and  Pocahontas  became  busy  hives  of 
industry,  with  thousands  of  inhabitants. 

What  was  known  as  "the  boom,"  when  men  became  wild  with 
their  schemes  to  build  towns  and  cities,  and  gambled  i-ecklessly  in 
town  lots,  came  in  1890.  The  towns  of  Graham  and  Richlands  in 
Tazewell  w^ere  laid  off,  and  tlieir  founders  aspired  to  make  them 
industrial  centers.  Things  moved  along  nicely  until  the  year  1893. 
Then  came  the  direful  panic  and  industrial  depression  that  brought 
business  disaster  to  every  section  of  the  Union  and  calamity  to  the 


664 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


laboring  men  of  the  country.  The  eoal  mining  inthistry  became 
stagnant  throughout  the  United  States;  and  it  was  almost  discon- 
tinued in  the  Pocahontas  fields  and  in  Wise  County.  Norton,  the 
boom  town  at  the  western  terminus  of  the  Clinch  Valley  Railroad, 
was  turned  into  a  deserted  village ;  and  Graham,  at  the  eastern 
terminus,  presented  an  air  of  desolation.  The  coke  ovens  at  Poca- 
hontas were  idle  and  abandoned;  and  it  was  told  that  calves  were 
grazing  about  and  hogs  sleeping  in  the  <'oke  ovens.  Many  of 
Tazewell's  farm  products  became  valueless,  except  for  home  con- 
sumption. Eggs  sold  for  five  cents  a  dozen;  navy  beans  for  sixty- 
five  cents  a  bushel ;  butter  for  ten  cents  a  pound,  and  some  of  the 
farmers  used  it  for  axle  arease. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  665 


CHAPTER  II. 

I'ROSI'KRITY    HKTl'KNS    TO    TA/EWEl-L    COUNTY. 

In  1897  tlif  rainbow  of  prosperity  once  again  hovered  over 
the  Clinch  Valley;  and  its  gracious  influence  has  remained  here 
until  the  present  time.  A  new  era  for  the  county  seems  to  have 
been  ushered  in;  and  since  the  year  1897  Tazewell  has  been  pro- 
gressing on  every  line.  Her  population,  as  shown  by  the  census  of 
1890,  had  grown  to  19,889,  as  against  12.861  in  1880.  In  IQOO— 
notwithstanding  the  hard  four  years,  1893-96 — the  population  had 
increased  to  23.y8'i,  and  in  1910  it  was  24,946.  Thus,  it  is  seen 
that  the  population  of  the  county  within  a  period  of  thirty  years 
liad  increased  nearly  a  hundred  per  cent.  The  heavy  increase  of 
the  population  was  chiefly  due  to  the  building  of  railroads  into 
the  county  and  the  development  of  its  mineral  resources. 

During  the  twenty-two  years  following  1890,  the  wealth  of 
Tazewell  increased  in  greater  proportion  than  the  pojDulation.  In 
1890  the  assessed  taxable  values  of  the  county  amounted  to 
$2,015,075  of  which  $1,417,090  was  real  estate,  and  $567,985  was 
personal  property.  By  1912  the  taxable  values  had  grown  to 
$7,237,566,  composed  of  $4,713,155  real  estate,  $1,483,136  tangible 
and  $1,041,275  intangible  personal  property.  The  increase  in 
assessed  taxable  values  in  twenty-two  j-ears  was  over  three  hundred 
and  fifty  per  cent.  But  the  growth  of  the  wealth  of  Tazewell 
County  during  the  six  years  following  1912  is  truly  amazing.  The 
assessed  taxable  values  for  1918  are  shown  by  the  following  table 
which  has  been  kindly  supplied  by  H.  P.  Brittain,  county  treasurer: 

"Assessed  Taxable  ^  values,  for  county  purposes,  in  Tazewell 
County  for  the  year  1918. 

Personal  Property,  Tangible  and  Intangible $  6,073,017.00 

Real     Estate 5,065,630.00 

Railroads  and  Electric  Railways 1,191,516.00 

Telegraphs,  Telephone  and  Express  Companies..  20,886.00 

Heat,  Light  and  Power  Companies 95,390.00 

Total    $12,446,439.00 


666 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


A  vei\y  large  part  of  the  assessed  taxable  values  of  the  county 
was  composed  of  live  stock.  The  animals  listed  for  taxation  for 
county  purposes  were:  4.274  horses,  20,234  cattle,  14,154  sheep, 
7,749  hogs,  and  151  goats.  A  conservative  estimate  of  the  value 
of  the  live  stock  sold  from  Tazewell  County  in  1918,  places  the 
amount  at  one  and  a  half  million  dollars. 


Dr.  Samuel  Cecil  Bowen  has  been  pronounced  one  of  the  finest 
all-around  characters  Tazewell  County  has  given  birth  to.  He  was 
bom  at  the  old  Maiden  Spring  homestead  on  May  15th,  1881,  was  the 
son  of  Rees  Tate  and  Mary  Crockett  Bowen,  and  the  great-great- 
grandson  of  Lieutenant  Rees  Bowen,  the  hero  of  King's  Mountain. 
Dr.  Bowen  obtained  his  academic  education  at  Hampden- Sidney  Col- 
lege and  the  Ohio  State  University.  He  graduated  with  distinction 
as  Doctor  of  Medicine  at  the  Virginia  Medical  College  in  1905,  was 
resident  physician  at  Memorial  Hospital,  Richmond,  Virginia,  for 
eighteen  months;  and,  after  engaging  several  years  m  the  general 
practice  of  the  profession,  spent  three  years  at  the  New  York  Eye  and 
Ear  Infii-mary  as  house  surgeon  of  that  noted  institution.  In  1912  he 
located  at  Richmond,  where  he  became  associated  with  Dr.  R.  H. 
Wright  as  a  specialist  in  the  treatment  of  diseases  of  the  eye,  ear, 
nose,  and  throat.  Very  soon  after  he  commenced  to  practice  as  a 
specialist  he  aroused  the  attention  of  eminent  men  of  the  profession  as 
a  skillful  and  successful  operator;  and  previous  to  his  death,  which 
occurred  Dec.  20th,  1918,  had  won  a  State-^vide,  and  even  National 
reputation  as  a  specialist. 

Further  proof  of  the  great  increase  of  wealth  in  the  county  is 
evidenced  by  the  increased  number  of  banks,  the  large  aggregate 
caj^ital  of  these  banks,  and  the  heavy  deposits  they  show. 

There  are  now  nine  banks  in  the  county,  with  an  aggregate 
capital  of  $855,600.     Three  of  these— Bank  of  Clinch  Valley,  Taze- 


and  Southwest  Virginia  667 

well  National  Bank,  and  Farmers  National  Bank — are  located  in  the 
town  of  Tazewell;  two — First  National  Bank  of  Richlands,  and 
Riehlands  National  Bank — are  at  Richlands;  two — First  National 
Bank  of  Pocahontas^  and  Bank  of  Pocahontas — are  at  Pocahontas; 
and  two — First  National  Bank  of  Graham,  and  Bank  of  Graliam — - 
are  at  Graham.  The  sworn  statement  of  these  nine  banks,  pub- 
lished in  November,  1919,  showed  that  the  aggregate  deposits  then 
amounted  to  the  sum  of  $3,012,205.58. 


The  population  of  Tazewell  County  by  the  recent  census  is 
27,840.  There  are  no  cities,  but  there  are  five  substantial  towns 
within  its  borders.  The  census  of  1920  gives  the  population  of  the 
towns  as  follows:  Riehlands,  1,171,  increase  428;  Tazewell,  1,261, 
increase  31;  North  Tazewell,  626,  increase  284-;  Pocahontas,  2,591, 
increase  139;  Graham,  2,752,  increase  835.  There  was  an  increase 
in  the  population  of  the  county,  during  the  decade  just  closed,  of 
2,894  souls.  Of  this  increase,  1,717  persons  were  found  in  the  five 
incorporated  towns,  and  only  1,177  in  the  balance  of  the  county. 
The  increase  in  the  wealth  of  the  county  was  much  greater  in  pro- 
portion than  the  population. 

Educational  conditions  in  the  county  have  been  greatly  improved 
during  the  past  twenty-five  or  thirty  years.  Previous  to  the  intro- 
duction of  the  public  free  schools  by  the  Constitution  of  1870,  the 
people  of  Tazewell  had  relied  entirely  npon  private  schools  for 
the  education  of  their  children.  That  class  of  schools  could  be 
maintained  only  in  the  communities  that  were  thickly  populated, 
and  where  the  wealthiest  citizens  were  located.  There  was  a 
meager  provision  made  by  the  State  for  the  education  of  indigent 
white  children ;  but  this  provision  proved  of  little  value  to  the 
cause  of  poj^ular  education. 

In  1852  there  were  but  fifteen  school  houses  in  the  county — all 
of  them  one-room  buildings — and  Bickley  said  they  were  "better 
suited  for  barns  than  seats  of  learning."  Then  the  area  of  the 
county  was  much  greater  than  at  present,  as  it  included  a  part  of 
Buchanan,  all  of  McDowell  County,  and  a  part  of  Bland.  The 
census  of  1850  disclosed  the  existence  of  a  shameful  state  of  illit- 
eracy within  the  bounds  of  Tazewell.  There  were  but  3,311  white 
persons  in  the  county  over  the  age  of  twentj^  years,  and  of  these 
1,490  were  unable  to  read  and  write.  And  there  must  have  been 
a  large  number  of  white  persons  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  twenty 


668  History  of  Tazewell  County 

who  could  not  read  and  write.  It  is  probable  that  more  than  fifty 
per  cent  of  the  white  persons  in  the  county  were  illiterate.  The 
percentage. of  illiteracy  was  reduced  considerably  by  taking  Buch- 
anan and  McDowell  counties  from  Tazewell  in  1858. 

No  marked  improvement  in  educational  conditions  was  observa- 
ble in  Tazewell  until  about  thirty  years  ago^,  when  the  people  of 
Virginia  became  interested  in  popular  education.  There  was  first 
hostility,  and  then  indifference  to  the  public  free  schools.  The  tax- 
payers were  reluctant  to  be  taxed  for  tlie  support  of  the  common 
free  schools,  and  many  citizens  refused  to  send  their  children  to 
these  schools.  But  the  people  of  Virginia,  including  those  of  Taze- 
well County,  were  at  last  awakened  to  the  fact  that  the  education 
of  the  masses  was  an  essential  need  for  the  preservation  of  a  pro- 
gressive civilization  in  the  Commonwealth,  and  for  the  perpetuation 
of  our  republican  form  of  government. 

Private  schools  were  practically  abandoned,  and  ever}-^  attempt 
to  establish  academies  or  colleges  in  the  towns  and  communities 
proved  futile.  The  entire  purpose  of  the  citizens  was  then  directed 
to  the  upbuilding  of  the  free  school  system.  That  this  effort  has 
been  attended  with  great  success  is  evidenced  by  wliat  was  accom- 
plished through  the  free  schools  in  the  scholastic  year  of  1918-19. 
During  that  scholastic  year  the  sum  of  $  11  (i,5 17.49  was  expended 
in  Tazewell  for  (Jeneral  Control,  Instruction,  Operation,  Mainte- 
nance, Auxiliary  Agencies,  and  Improvements  of  school  property. 
Of  this  sum  $78,705.00  was  paid  in  salaries  to  the  teachers,  and 
$15,109  for  new  buildings.  There  are  now  73  white  and  7  colored 
plants  or  school  houses  in  the  county ;  and  for  the  last  school  year 
there  were  150  Avhite  and  14  colored  schools,  each  room  being 
counted,  technically,  a  school.  Tliese  schools  are  classified  as  fol- 
lows: 

Four-year  High  Schools,  4;  Junior  High  Schools,  2;  Graded 
Schools,  meaning  three-room  and  four-room,  3  white  and  3  colored; 
Common  Schools,  one  and  two-room,  68.  The  number  of  teachers 
employed  was  150  white  and  14  colored.  A  school  census  was  taken 
in  1915,  and  the  school  population  was: — white,  7,173;  colored, 
693 — a  total  of  7,899.  The  enrollment  of  pujjils  for  the  year 
1917-1918  was — white,  6,080;  colored,  693 — a  total  enrollment 
of  6,773. 

That  illiteracy  in  Tazewell  County  has  been  rapidly  disappear- 
ing is  shown  in  the  report  of  the  State  Superintendent  of   Public 


and  Southwest  Virginia  669 

Instruction  for  the  school  year  1914-15.  His  report  states  that, 
according  to  the  school  census  of  1915,  Tazewell  stood  third  among 
the  counties  having  the  lowest  rate  of  illiteracy  in  that  part  of  the 
population  between  10  and  20  years  of  age.  Illiteracy  with  that 
part  of  the  population  between  10  and  20  years  old  had  been  reduced 
to  about  one  per  cent.  This  is  a  splendid  showing  for  Tazewell  and 
is  very  encouraging  to  the  friends  of  Popular  Education.  Culture 
has  ceased  to  be  the  privilege  of  classes  in  Tazewell  County. 


coon    ROADS. 


In  the  matter  of  improved  highways  the  .ounty  has  made  most 
creditable  progress.  This  has  proved  an  important  contributing 
cause  for  the  increased  taxable  values  of  the  county.  On  the  18th 
day  of  April,  1911,  a  bond  issue  of  $625,000  was  voted  for  by  the 
three  magisterial  districts,  to  be  expended  iinder  the  direction  and 
supervision  of  the  State  Highway  Commission.  The  magisterial 
districts  voted  separately  as  to  the  amount  each  would  expend  on  its 
roads.  Jefl'ersonville  District  voted  $200,000;  Clear  Fork  District 
$250,000;  and  Maiden  Spring  District,  $175,000.  Another  election 
for  issuing  additional  bonds  was  held  and  carried  on  the  4th  of 
April,  1916. 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  second  bond  issue  Jeffersonville 
District  received  $96,000;  and  Clear  Fork  District  $155,900. 
Maiden  Spring  District  voted  in  the  election  but  declined  to  parti- 
pate  in  the  proceeds  of  the  bond  issue.  At  a  later  date  Clear  Fork 
District  issued  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $9,000  without  authorization 
from  the  electorate  of  the  county.  The  sum  total  of  the  bond  issue 
for  road  purposes  is  $885,900. 

Tazewell  County's  Bond  Issue  system  is.  perhaps,  the  most 
satisfactory  that  could  be  devised,  certain  of  the  bonds  maturing 
one  year  after  date,  some  in  two  years,  some  in  three  years,  et  cet., 
the  last  maturing  in  1946.  The  county  does  not  provide  for  nor 
carry  a  sinking  fund,  the  current  levies  being  sufficient  to  retire  the 
bonds  as  they  mature  and  pay  the  interest  on  balance  of  issue,  the 
tax  burden  being  fairly  distributed  over  the  years  from  date  of 
issue  to  maturity  of  last  lot  of  bonds.  This  system  has  proved  to 
be  most  satisfactor}'. 

Soon  after  the  first  bond  issue  was  carried,  active  work  on  the 
county  roads  was  begun;  and  nearly  all  the  proceeds  of  the  several 
bond  issues  has  been  expended.     As  a  result,  the  eoimty  now  has 


670 


History  of  Tazewell  County 


135  miles  of  macadam  roads,  and  100  miles  of  improved  dirt  roads, 
or  a  total  of  235  miles  of  improved  roads.  There  still  remains  285 
miles  of  unimproved  roads,  there  being  a  total  of  520  miles  of  public 
roads  in  Tazewell  County. 

A  sjDlendid  macadam  road  has  been  completed  from  a  point 
five  miles  east  of  the  Russell  County  line  to  the  eastern  line  of 
Tazewell  County  at  Graham.  This  road  practically  follows  the 
route  of  the  old  Cumberland  Gap  and  Fincastle  Turnpike,  but  with 
greatly  improved  grades.     At  the  regular  session  of  the  Virginia 


Scene  in  valley  about  a  mile  west  of  the  court  house,  showing 
the  modem  road  built  on  the  location  of  the  old  Fincastle  and  Cumber- 
land Gap  Turnpike.  In  the  background  Morris'  Knob  is  visible.  The 
photo  from  which  the  half-tone  cut  is  made  was  made  by  A.  M.  Black, 
Tazewell's  splendid  photographer.  It  won  first  prize  in  a  contest  for 
prize  of  $1,500  offered  by  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal,  under  the  head- 
ing:   "An  Old  Virginia  Road." 

General  Assembly  in  1919  the  road  from  Cumberland  Gap  to 
Graham  was  designated  as  one  of  the  State  highways  by  the  act 
passed  at  that  session  of  the  Legislature.  The  road  is  now  com- 
pleted, with  the  exception  of  the  five  miles  in  the  west  end  of 
Tazewell  County  and  a  few  short  sections  in  Scott  County. 

Another  modern  highway  follows  the  route  of  the  Tazewell  C.  H. 
and  Kentucky  Turnpike  to  the  head  of  Baptist  Valley,  and  has 
been  macadamized  down  that  valley  a  distance  of  four  miles. 
Similar  roads  have  been  built  in  other  sections  of  the  county ;  one 
from  Cedar  Bluff  by  Steelesburg,  to  intersect  with  the  Cumberland 
Gap  and  Graham  road  at  a  point  west  of  Midway;  another  from 
Witten's  Mill  to  Tiptop;  and  one  from  Pocahontas  to  the  head  of 
Abb's  Valley.      Perhaps,  the  best  road  in  the  county  follows  the 


and  Southwest  Virginia  671 

roiitf  of  tlic  old  Tazewell  C.  H.  and  Faiity  Gap  Turnpike,  from 
the  forks  of  the  road  opposite  the  residence  of  the  late  Captain  Wm. 
E.  Peery,  up  the  south  branch  of  Clinch  River  to  Gratton;  thence 
crosses  Rich  Mountain,  and  passes  into  and  through  Burke's  Garden. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  travelled  and  attractive  roads  in  the  county. 
In  a  few  more  years  Tazewell  will  have  one  of  the  most  complete 
and  splendid  systems  of  highways  in  our  State. 

In  former  years  the  county  was  celebrated  for  its  number  of 
saddle  and  draft  horses.  The  improved  highways  have  already 
nearly  made  travel  on  horseback  obsolete,  and  the  splendid  saddle 
animals  that  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  had  attracted  buyers 
fi-om  all  regions  have  nearly  disapjDeared.  Hundreds  of  automobiles 
have  taken  the  place  of  saddle  and  carriage  horses,  and  auto  trucks 
are  rapidly  displacing  the  fine  draft  teams  that  were  so  long  the 
pride  of  this  people. 

Buckle  and  other  historians,  who  made  civilization  a  theme, 
have  expressed  the  conviction  that  climate,  soil,  and  food  are  the 
three  essential  physical  agents  for  creating  a  high  degree  of  civi- 
lization in  a  community  or  nation.  And  these  writers  have  affirmed 
that  the  most  important  product  evolved  from  the  essential  physical 
agents  is  the  accumulation  of  wealth.  Their  contention  is,  that 
without  a  wealthy  leisure  class  there  can  be  no  large  measure  of 
knowledge  and  no  intellectual  class. 

When  the  pioneer  fathers  came  to  the  Clinch  Valley  they  found 
here  amply  provided  by  natui-e  the  three  basic  essentials  for  erect- 
ing a  highly  civilized  community — -that  is,  climate,  soil,  and  food. 
They  utilized  very  successfully  these  natural  agencies  for  estab- 
lishing comfortable  homes  for  themselves  and  their  families ;  and 
secured  to  their  posterity  the  most  priceless  attributes  of  civiliza- 
tion, political  and  religious  freedom.  While  accomplishing  this, 
they  were  laying  a  firm  foundation  u23on  which  their  descendants 
and  successors  might  erect  the  best  type  of  civilization. 

Class  and  caste  were  the  disintegrating  elements  in  the  moral 
force  and  national  character  of  all  ancient  civilizations.  A  similar 
defect  was  the  controlling  instrumentality  in  modern  European 
civilization,  which  during  a  period  of  four  recent  years  turned  Con- 
tinental Europe  into  a  bloody  shambles;  and  threatened  to  uproot 
the  excellent  social  fabric  constructed  by  the  fathers  of  our  own 
beloved  land. 


672  History  of  Tazewell  County 

The  extremes  of  wealth  and  poverty  do  not  now  exist  and  have 
never  been  existent  m  Tazewell.  There  are  many  eomfortably 
wealthy  men  in  the  eounty ;  and,  pex'haps,  half  a  dozen  millionaires. 
But,  with  a  population  of  27,840  souls  in  the  county,  as  shown  by 
the  census  of  19'20,  there  are  only  53  paupers  here.  The  paupers 
are  of  a  class  that  are  imable  to  work  on  account  of  the  infirmities 
of  age,  or  other  physical  causes,  and  mental  deficiency.  Fifteen 
are  entirely  dependent  and  are  maintained  at  the  county  farm,  while 
thirty-eight  are  partially  dependent  and  receive  aid  from  the  public 
funds.  The  county  owns  a  valuable  farm,  situated  one  and  a  half 
miles  east  of  the  county  seat,  its  estimated  value  being  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars.  During  the  fiscal  year  which  ended  the  1st  of 
July,  1919,  the  products  of  the  farm  amounted  to  $i,890;  and  the 
live  stock  on  hand  at  that  date  was  valued  at  $8,760.  The  annual 
expense  for  conducting  the  farm  and  maintaining  the  jjaupers  is, 
approximately,  $(5,000.  As  long  as  present  conditions  continue 
societ}'  here  will  be  contented  and  prosperous;  and,  apparentlj^,  it 
will  be  best  for  the  county  to  remain,  as  it  always  lias  been,  pri- 
marily an  agricultural  community.  Adherence  to  this  system  will  give 
comfort  and  security  to  the  energetic  worker,  and  will  not  furnish 
asylum  to  the  idler.  God  forbid,  that  Tazewell  shall  ever  have  a 
system  with  paupers  at  the  base  and  idle  rich  at  the  top  of  the 
social  scale.  May  its  social  system  never  be  like  that  of  modern 
England,  of  which  INIatthcw  Arnold  affirmed:  "Our  inequality 
materializes  our  upper  class,  vulgarizes  our  middle  class,  and  bru- 
talizes our  lower  class." 

Wealth,  great  wealth  is  now  collectively  possessed  by  the  people 
of  Tazewell.  What  will  they  do  with  it.?  Under  the  spell  of 
modern  civilization,  shall  the  rising  generation  be  trained  to  place 
a  negligible  value  upon  the  instrumentalities  of  civilization  that 
were  recognized  and  utilized  by  the  pioneer  fathers;  and  be  taught 
that  money,  position,  power,  idleness,  and  luxury  are  the  prime 
essentials  of  an  advanced  civilization?  This  is  the  gravest  question 
the  Christian  world  has  to  solve.  What  part  will  the  people  of 
Tazewell  enact  in  its  solution.''  Shall  civilization  continue  to  advance 
here  on  definitely  true  lines,  or  retrograde  into  a  refined  barbarism.'* 
Shall  we  continue  to  teach  but  neglect  to  practice  the  great  social 
and  political  truths  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  embodied  in  the  Virginia 
Bill  of  Rights  and  the  Declaration  of  Independence.'' 


APPENDIX  TO  HISTORY  OF 
TAZEWELL  COUNTY 


Names  of  Tazewell  County  men  who  served  in  ti.e  military  and 
naval  service  o£  the  United  States  during  the  World  War,  as 
shown  bv  the  Muster  Roll  of  Tazewell  County,  which  is  made  up 
from  records  of  the  Local  Board  of  said  county,  and  the  list  of 
volunteers  furnished  the  clerk  of  said  county  by  the  Adjutant 
General  of  Virginia. 

Quite  a  number  of  men  outside  of  draft  age  volunteered,  and  up 
to  the  present  time  no  record  has  been  obtained  showing  the  names 

of  these  men. 

ARMY. 

White. 

Thomas  Albert  Adison,  Robert  Samuel  Angles,  Willis  Carl 
Anderson,  Marion  Calvin  Asbury,  James  Riley  Able,  William  B. 
Absher,  Gus  Asbury,  John  Johnson  Asbury,  Joseph  Andrew  Amos, 
Edd  Kelly  Adison. 

Charles  Arthur  Billips,  John  Robert  Birklebach,  Shade  Creed 
Baldwin,   Charley  Wm.   Blankenship,  James   Barnett,   David   Carl 
Beavers,  Charlie  Mose  Beavers,  Dan  Brodskie,  Charles  Oata  Bow- 
man, Homer  Beavers,  Steve  Boray,  Robert  A.  Billips,  Nelson  Henry 
Barker,  Paris  Brown,  Sam  Buchanan  Bogle,  Wm.  Jasper  Blanken- 
ship, Arthur  Marvin  Buskill,  Posy  Earl  Burcham,  James   Robert 
Burress,   Marion   Bowman,   J.    Raj'mond   Barnett,   Martin    Luther 
Bowling,    Isaac    C.    Buchanan,   Geo.    W.    Belcher,    George   Walter 
Beavers,  James  Brooks,  Eugene  Newton  Burroughs,  Pola  Andrew 
Brooks,  George  Beavers,  Shelburn  G.  Bruster,  John  Ward  Baylor, 
George   Thomas    Baumgardner,    William    Benson,    George    Bandy, 
Peery  Boothe,  Roy  Thomas  Barrett,  Roy  Boyd,  Charles  G.  Brown, 
Watts  Baldwin,  George  Dewey  Bowman,  Arthur  Samuel  Beavers, 
Sidney  Isaac  Bowman,  James  Fred  Brown,  W.  D.  Brown,  Gilbert 
Brinegar,   Sitbiey    Blankenship,   Lawrence   W.    Blankenship,    Cecil 
Calloway    Bane,    Erwin    Bane,    Tazie    Belcher,    Fayette    Beavers, 
Grover  Cleveland  Barnett,  Jesse  Marvin  Boyd,  John  George  Black- 
T.H.— 43  (  673  ) 


674  History  of  Tazewell  County 

well;  Bandy  Boggess^  Riffe  Boggess,  Stanley  Lee  Bowman^  James 
Luther  Belcher^  Howard  S.  Bowman^  Otis  Lee  Bootlie,  Lee  Barrett, 
Sidney  Bloch,  James  Bryant  Burton,  David  Lonzo  Bowman,  Enoch 
Bayles,  William  Frank  Baylor,  Glenn  Everett  Beavers,  Charles 
Thomas  Boone,  Sylvester  Blankenship,  Brj-an  William  Barnett, 
James  William  Bowser,  Earnest  Brown  Bales,  Trube  T.  Bourne, 
Rees  Richard  Boone,  Lawrence  A.  Barrett,  William  J.  Bowser, 
Jasper  Brewster. 

Lewis  H.  Carbaugh,  James  Allen  Clark,  Joe  Conley,  John  Clin- 
ton Coleman,  Arnold  Coles,  Jolin  Carter,  Nick  Crist,  William  Arthur 
Coleman,  William  Otis  Caldwell,  Walter  Preston  Creasy,  Robert 
Samuel  Crabtree,  James  Robert  Cregar,  Alva  Brittain  Cregar, 
Chester  Carter,  Vinton  Victor  Christian,  Jesse  Lee  Coen,  Claude 
Chrisman,  Robert  Marvin  Crabtree,  Samuel  Clark,  Daniel  Frank 
Collins,  Tliomas  Cochran,  Jesse  Ben  Clark,  Aaron  Cai-ter,  Wiley 
Robinson  Compton,  William  Cordill,  William  Carter,  Fred  B. 
Cordle,  James  Raleigh  Compton,  Roy  Alexander  Cohen,  Vance 
Witten  Carter,  John  Willie  Christian,  Creed  Frazier  Catron,  Wil- 
liam Cebard  Cox,  John  Ed.  Crockett,  Jesse  Walter  Cregar,  Avery 
M.  Crabtree,  Lewis  R.  Coulling,  Edward  Charles  Clark,  Charles  R. 
L.  Cruey,  Arthur  Cordle.  Grover  Campbell,  Albert  del.  Castello, 
James  Thomas  Crouse,  William  Henry  Cole,  S.  M.  B.  Coulling,  Jr. 

William  Deskins,  Luther  Henry  Dunnigan,  Samuel  Dillow, 
Charles  Davis,  Joseph  Elliott  Deaton,  James  Miller  Davidson, 
Henry  Albert  Davis,  George  F.  Deaton,  Charles  Smith  Dalton, 
John  Frank  Daniel,  James  Henry  Davis,  Will  Allis  Dillon,  Hasten 
Dingus,  J.  P.  Davidson,  Hugh  Cornelius  Davis,  George  Thomas 
Dillow,  Robert  Samuel  Davis,  Baxter  Duncan,  Alfred  V.  Dennen, 
Arthur  Blaine  Dunningan,  James  Dawson,  INIarsliall  Deaton, 
Charles  Hugh  Dudley. 

Leland  S.  Edwards,  Jesse  Lee  Epperson,  Frank  Chalmers  Ellett, 
Walter  Clinton  Edwards,  M.  E.  Eagle,  Newton  Harman  Edwards, 
Haz.  Eagle,  William  Ray  Edwards,  John  Gideon  Epperson,  Fielden 
Kirk  Earls. 

Albert  Pendleton  French,  Joseph  Farris,  Andrew  Sid.  Franklin, 
Charley  Farmer,  James  Edgar  Fields,  Emor}'  Lee  Flanary,  W^m. 
Chafe  Faulkner,  Jr.,  Robert  Guy  Flanarv,  Clinton  Farmer. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  675 

William  Cosby  Greever^  Harvey  George  Gillespie,  Charles 
Joseph  Gose,  George  Thomas  Gentry,  Samuel  William  Green, 
Robert  Griffith,  Samuel  Walton  Graham,  Hal  Gordon  Graham, 
Robert  B.  Gross,  Robert  R.  H.  Gillespie,  Fi-ederick  William  Glen- 
ville,  John  Arthur  Graham,  William  G.  Gillespie,  John  A.  Graham, 
Charles  M.  Gillespie,  Harvey  Eli  Green,  Reuben  Pendleton  Green, 
Benjamin  H.  Griffith,  Joseph  W.  Guess,  Thomas  Walter  Gillespie, 
Julius  Goodman,  George  Gydosh,  Andro  But  Gussian,  George 
Benoni  Gose,  Robert  Felix  Gillespie,  Earnest  Burton  Gravely, 
Carnie  J.  Gillespie,  Irbj'  Gillenwaters. 

Daniel  Clayburn  Hogston,  James  Stanley  Home,  Roby  Kellis 
Hill,  Robert  P.  Harman,  Edward  Albert  Holmes,  Luther  Hall,  Ira 
Edward  Horton,  James  Robert  Harless,  Lee  Harman,  Cary  John 
Hodge,  Hampton  Hutson,  Thomas  Hankins,  John  Edd.  Howery, 
Will  Herald,  George  H.  Harman,  Frank  R.  Henderson,  Roy  Lee 
Hagy,  Henry  Thomas  Haley,  Harry  A.  Humphrey,  Edward  W. 
Hill,  John  Hunnel,  Henry  Mullins  Hanshaw,  Lee  Helmandollar, 
Arthur  Hunnel,  Amos  Hess,  George  C.  Hooker,  Ira  E.  Helton,  Wil- 
liam Harman,  Otto  Herald,  James  Bishop  Haj's,  Bryant  Harman, 
Thomas  T.  Hewson,  Hugh  R.  Hawthorne,  Reese  Hall,  James  Frank 
Hopkins,  Thomas  Albert  Howery,  William  Harman,  William  Henry, 
Charles  Dale  Harman,  Earl  Preston  Hall,  Frazier  Harman,  Henry 
Hunt,  Walter  Lee  Hankins,  Charles  Hughes,  David  Paul  Harris, 
Charles  Chester  Hindley,  Daniel  Robert  Harman,  Timothy  Hankins, 
Andrew  J.  Hall,  Albert  Claude  Hankins,  James  Hess,  William  H. 
Harrison,  Joseph  Brown  Heldreth,  Irvin  Ben  Hodges,  Paul  Perry 
Hunter,  John  Clarence  Heldreth,  Lee  Hoops,  William  Hall,  Thomas 
Milton  Harris,  Sid.  Harry,  Robert  L.  Hoops,  William  Prevo  Hager, 
Robert  Arthur  Harris,  Thomas  Hughes,  Walter  Helmandollar, 
George  B.  Houchins,  J.  E.  Hurt,  Harv.\v  G.  Harrison. 

Henry  Ingle. 

George  Raymond  Jennings,  Herbert  Jackson,  James  William 
Jones,  Walter  I.  Jenkins,  Burl  Jones,  Marion  I.  Jackson,  Eugene 
Johnson,  John  R.  Jones,  Thomas  A.  Jackson,  Joseph  C.  Jones, 
Chesley  Albert  Jeter,  Taylor  Jackson,  Joseph  Elbert  Johnson, 
Robert  Lee  Jones,  Edward  Lewis  Jackson,  Henry  Alexander  Jones, 
Robert  C.  Jackson. 


676  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Joseph  Frazier  Kitts,  William  Gent  Kiser,  Fletcher  Kiser,  Wil- 
liam Thomas  Keesee,  Walter  E.  Kiser,  Nev.ton  Roy  Kinder,  Claude 
G.  Kitts,  Oscar  John  Kachelries,  Charles  George  Kinder,  James 
Robert  Kinder,  William  Frank  Kinder,  Johan  Kenevar,  Christian 
Thomas  Kirk,  Alonzo  Hyatt  Kelly,  James  G.  Kelly,  Jesse  Moore 
Karr,  Roy  Howard  Keister,  Oscar  Heath  Keister,  John  Tyler  Kee- 
see,  Grover  Leo  Kinder,  David  Clyde  Keister,  Joe  S.  Kish,  Jr. 

James  Crockett  Lester,  Charles  Lawrence,  Samuel  P>astus 
LefFel,  Robert  Lockhart  Lefler,  William  Allen  Lee,  Thomas  H. 
Lambert,  Adam  Bittle  Lambert,  James  Robert  Lawrence,  Jr., 
Clarence  E.  Lawrence,  Christopher  Lockwood,  Titus  Lambert,  Wil- 
liam Eli  Lockhart,  Seldon  Crockett  Lambert,  Robert  Andrew 
Lethcoe,  Abb  Lambert,  John  Wyatt  Lawrence,  Robert  Thomas 
Long,  Robert  Frazier  Lambert,  Channel  A.  Lawson,  Crockett  Lowe, 
Ewing  Waters  Lawson,  Paris  H.  Lambert,  Beverly  D.  Litz,  John 
Cleveland  Lambert,  John  W.  Lawrence,  William  Whitt  Lowe, 
James  Truby  Lambert,  William  S.  Lockhart,  Luther  James  Lank- 
ford,  Walter  D.  Lovell,  William  Jordan  Luke,  William  Albert 
Lawson,  Arthur  W.  Lawson,  Victor  Hugo  Lewis,  Edd  Herman 
Lowe,  Sylvester  Lowe,  Fred  Lambert,  James  E.  P,  Lockhart, 
George  W.  Lowe,  Vess  C.  Lowe,  Lindsay  Lowe,  T.  O.  Laird. 

Robert  Leslie  Maxwell.  William  Music,  Arthur  Price  Morton, 
Vinton  Robert  Moss.  Hubert  Pontell  Meredith.  Glenn  White  Martin, 
Joseph  Anthony  Macaro,  Isaac  Drayton  Maxwell,  Robert  H. 
Mahood,  Will  Rees  Murray.  Thomas  Lee  May,  Joe  Melfa,  Lee 
Mj-ers,  Edward  A.  S.  Mitchell.  William  Leece  May,  Charles  D. 
Mattox,  James  M.  Moore,  Paul  Mallory,  John  M.  Mobray,  Waltei' 
Monk,  William  Mitchell,  Jr.,  Thomas  Augustus  Marrs,  Robert 
Meadows,  David  Acuff  Mahone,  IMark  S.  Mallory,  Rees  Munday, 
Marvin  Edward  INIeadows,  Columbus  Moore  Mothena,  George  W. 
Mitchell,  James  Archabald  Moore,  Samuel  Davidson  May,  George 
Spotts  Moore,  Thomas  T.  Moore.  Charles  Walter  Moore,  Morris 
Magrill,  William  Dudley  Marrs.  George  Clarence  Martin,  Louis 
Cleveland  Marshall,  John  Martin,  Robert  Owen  Morgan. 

Henry  J.  McGlothlin,  Lindsay  T.  McGuire,  Frazier  Buford 
McMeans,  Henry  Guy  McKinney,  Albert  Lester  INIcMeans,  Eugene 
Lanoy   McGinnis,    Ellis   V.    McFarland,   Archie    Patton   McKenry, 


and  Southwest  Virginia  677 

John  McGuire,  Samuel  E.  McMuUin,  William  E.  McCall,  James 
Okey  McNeely,  Lawrence  W.  McFarland,  George  Peery  McGiiire, 
Robert  Daniel  McCall,  Charles  Grant  McGlothlin,  Lorenzo  A. 
MeGlothlin. 

Gorthm  Thomas  Neel,  Guy  Henry  Nasli,  Suddeth  Walton  Neel, 
Wiley  Stuart  Neal,  Henry  Clarence  Neel,  Fred  Thomas  Nasli, 
James  Corbett  Neel,  Ira  Lacy  Neel,  James  Henry  Neal,  Levi 
Walker  Neel,  William  Henry  Neel,  Kyle  NijDper,  John  H.  Newman, 
Robert  Sidney  Neel,  George  C.  Nicewander,  John  Estil  Neel,  James 
Thornton  Neel,  James  Alderman  Newton,  Wiley  Newberry,  George 
Nichols,  Henry  Guy  Norman,  William  Herald  Nixon,  Lawrence  O. 
Nelson. 

William  Harvey  Osborne,  Vista  Osborne,  Isiah  Osborne,  Neely 
Osborne. 

Bart  Edwin  Pruett,  William  Henry  Phillips,  Charles  George 
Powers,  Howard  Lacy  Peak,  Clarence  Eugene  Peery,  Henry  Porter, 
William  Albert  Peery,  Kenneth  C.  Patty,  Archie  Lee  Pruett,  Max- 
well A.  Pruett,  John  Richard  Peery,  George  E.  Pruett,  Walter 
Stuart  Patrick,  Charles  Clarence  Peery,  Robert  A.  Pack,  Bane 
Gustaff  Peery,  Walter  Sherman  Patrick,  Lewis  Parker  Pruett, 
Robert  C.  Pack,  William  Pierce,  Augustua  Peery,  Rush  Floyd 
Pauley,  Robert  Pack,  William  C.  Pruett,  Walker  Puckett,  Walter 
Price,  Mustard  Pruett,  Peter  William  Peterson,  Leftridge  C.  Patton, 
Oscar  Brown  Pruett,  Archie  S.  Powers,  Garland  Peery,  Thomas 
Allen  Peery,  Clarence  Henry  Peery,  William  E.  Peery,  Jr.,  Archie 
Riley  Pruett,  Frank  Pierce  Pickle,  Andrew  McDonald  Peery,  Wil- 
liam Proffit,  James  Prophet,  J.  O'Keefe  Peery,  Lawrence  S.  Peak, 
Roscoe  Pack. 

Byron  Franklin  Quillin,  William  L.  Quesenbury. 

Rees  Melvin  Russell,  William  Everett  Riley,  James  Arthur 
Riley,  Witten  Rucker,  Floyd  Repass,  James  W^illiam  Rich,  Creed 
Rose,  Henderson  J.  Ruthledge,  James  Madison  Roark,  Jesse  Marvin 
Rye,  Walter  Thompson  Rye,  Frank  Ratcliff,  Guy  A.  Rosebaum, 
John  Gibson  Repass,  Carlile  T.  Rees,  Charles  B.  Rosseau,  Arthur 
Reedy,  Leonard  M.  Reedy,  John  Thomas  Roten,  Sam  P.  Riley,  Lacy 
Johnson  Repass,  Herbert  Henry  Rosenbaum,  Maxwell  A.  Riley. 


678  History  of  Tazewell  County 

James  Alma  Sluss,  Ben  Stacy,  Norman  Clarence  Smith,  Robert 
Cline  Sparks,  Thomas  Lewis  Shawver,  Dudley  Gratton  Shi-ader, 
Luther  Arch  Settle,  James  Claude  Sayers,  Washington  Lee  Sayers, 
Walter  Stuart,  Curtis  L.  Shufflebarger,  Sam  Riley  Smith,  Sidney  H. 
Shell,  Horton  Shepherd,  Wiliiara  John  Selney,  Samuel  S.  Summers, 
Milton  T.  Simmons,  Elislia  Earl  Stevenson,  Everett  Sluss,  Charles 
Arnold  C.  Salyers,  Hugh  Thomas  Stevenson,  Louis  Jackson  Scott, 
Jonah  F.  Soutliern,  Charles  Whitt  Sparks,  Pearl  Henry  Shreve, 
John  William  Shawver,  Jolm  Robert  Saunders,  John  C.  Steele, 
Alexander  G.  StClair,  Floj'd  Henry  Stevens,  John  Short,  Jackson 
Sluss,  James  Clinton  Sturgess,  George  W.  Steele,  W^ash  Lee  Sayers, 
James  Allen  Smith,  Ballard  N.  Short,  William  Newton  Shuffle- 
barger, Robert  Lee  Spurgeon,  Daniel  Gratton  Shrader,  Clay 
Seyphers,  Charles  J.  Stephenson,  Joe  R.  Switalski,  Meredith 
Strouth,  Edgar  Marion  Steele,  Frederick  Wm.  St. Clair,  Robert 
Edgar  Simpson,  Rex  E.  Steele,  Lucien  Snodgrass,  Lucian  Smith, 
Thomas  Ford  Shamblin,  Charles  Russell  Stinson,  Geo.  W.  Simms. 

Leek  Andrew  Thompson,  Clarence  Kenny  Turner,  Roy  Martin 
Triplett,  Mercer  Elliott  Thomas,  John  Henry  Tabor,  John  Davis 
Tabor,  William  Andrew  Turley,  William  Erastus  Tickle,  William 
James  Tiller,  Roy  Ashland  Thompson,  Adam  Stephen  Tabor, 
Greever  Taylor,  C.  W.  Thompson,  Pose  William  Thomas,  Robert 
Samuel  Taylor,  Walter  Lee  Taylor,  Brown  Taylor,  Emory  Lee 
Taylor,  Foster  J.  Tliompson,  Benjamin  H.  Thompson,  James 
Raleigh  Twigg,  Raleigh  Totten,  Oday  C.  Thompson,  Sidney  Taylor 
Tickle,  Samuel  Eli  Turner,  Eugene  Thompson. 

Flem  Vandyke,  Pearl  Vance,  Charley  Crockett  Vance,  Thomas 
Vandyke,  Jesse  W.  Vernon,  Doak  Vandyke,  John  Alexander 
Vandyke. 

Martin  Wilson,  Dale  West,  Leek  Evans  Whitt,  Charles  W^aldron, 
William  Walter  Watkins,  Edward  Whitman,  Roby  F.  Wiles,  Beverly 
Wade,  Robert  Johnson  Wimmer,  Samuel  Henry  Wimmer,  Adam 
Greene  Wagner,  James  Widner,  I'.mor}^  Wilson,  Arthur  Wimmer, 
Clarence  Edwin  Watkins,  Joseph  Shannon  Wynne,  John  Thomas 
Worsham,  George  R.  Walker,  James  Thomas  Wilson,  Thomas 
Marion  Waldron,  James  Robert  Whitley,  Kent  W.  Witten,  Roscoe 
Riner   Wall,   Fugate   Campbell   Wliite,   Lilburn   Benjamin   Wilson, 


and  Southwest  Virginia  679 

Will  Samuel  Will.  Spencer  B.  Warner.  Samuel  Luther  ^^;'>i^^-^^' 
William  Weleh,  Kelly  G.  Wright,  Andrew  J.  (of  Robert)  \^.tte^ 
Frank  Estil  Williams,  David  Osear  Williams,  John  Clarence  \\h.tt. 
Wilk  Otis  West,  John  Carl  Witt,  Elias  Whitt,  John  Aaron  WaMron, 
Arthur  Monroe  Woody,  Archie  Zack  Whitt,  Albert  Glenn  Wynn, 
Tom  Wilson,  Robert  A.  Walker,  Joseph  E.  Whitt,  Hobart  ^dham 
Webb,  McKinley  Wiles,  W.  P.  Wyatt,  Jesse  Andrew  Woods,  Eugene 
B.  Witten,  Jack  W.  Witten. 

Charles  W.  Yates,  James  Richard  Young.  David  William  Yost, 
Henrv  Peerv  Yost,  Clarence  Kelly  Yost,  James  Harvey  Yates 
EdwJrd  Ro)"  Yost,  Charles  George  Yost,  Levi  Jesse  Yates,  Paul 
Richard  Yost. 

George  L.  Zimmerman,  Ignatz  Zachosky. 

Total  628. 

NAVY. 

W'lIITE. 

Charles  R.  Brown,  Jr.,  William  Jefferson  Brown,  William  Arnold 

Burton.  ,      r^  o     l 

A.  J.  Collins,  Samuel  William  Carter,  Bishop  Hicks  Coon,  1  aul 

Crockett. 

James  R.  Doak, 

Jesse  F.  Earnest. 

Willie  Guy  French. 

Jesse  Samuel  Gillespie,  Charles  Greer,  Paul  Gydosh. 

Will  Neal  Hurley,  Eugene  Claude  Harman,  Rufus  Crockett 
Harrison,  John  Jasper  Henkle,  Daniel  Henry  Harrison. 

James  Vernon  Johnson,  Everett  Johnson,  Roscoe  Kelly  Jones. 

David  Roscoe  Kitts,  Robert  Ernest  Kitts. 

Robert   Lee   Longworth,   Sam.    J.    Lubliner,   Thomas    Lawrence 

Lowe.  . 

Charles  Franklin  Medley,  Robert  Henry  Moore,  Thomas  Fair- 
fax ISIartin,  Cecil  Martin,  Clarence  Myers. 

Walter  McGhee,  George  Gordon  McBride,  George  William 
I^IcCall.  Harvey  Grat  McMullin,  Henry  L.  McCall,  William  Lewis 
McMullin,  George  O.  McGuire. 


680  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Bud  Neal,  Vance  Clayton  Neece,  James  Curtis  Neel. 

James  Walter  Peery,  Haynes  Graham  Preston^  Raymond  Sur- 
face Peery,  George  Armstead  Pobst,  Cornwell  A.  Peverall,  Samuel 
C.  Peery,  Jr.,  Earl  MclNIinn  Pruett,  Charles  Fudge  Peery. 

Grady  Lee  Ross. 

Sherman  Lee  Slaughter,  Robert  I.  Sarver,  Thomas  Monroe 
Sayers,  Rees  Bowen  Thompson,  John  Thompson,  Arthur  Taylor. 

Everett  Woods,  Beverly  Walton  White. 

Total  53. 

MARINES. 

White. 

Wm.  Byrd  May  Chapman. 

Henry  Franklin  Gilmer. 

Thomas  Robert  Harrison,  Mathew  Butler  Hammit,  Robert  Smith 
Hopkins. 

Cecil  Addison  Mowles,  John  Earnest  McMullin. 

James  Beverly  Neal. 

Eugene  Pierce,  Wm.  Donreath  Poindexter,  Joseph  Everett 
Portei'. 

Alderson  Sexton,  Kennerly  Sexton,  Gillespie  R.  Smith. 

Andrew  J.  Witten. 

Total  15. 

S.  A.  T.  C. 

White. 

Wm.  Gordon  Bottimore,  Benjamin  Elbert  Bates,  Rufus  Brittain, 
Samuel  E,  Baylor. 

William  Pamjilin  Crabtree,  Thomas  Healy  Campbell,  Robert  V. 
Crockett. 

Tyler  McCall  Frazier. 

Charles  Dewey  Garland,  Robert  Gratton  Gillespie. 

James  Hudson  Huftord,  Walter  Henrj^  Hankins,  Joseph  N. 
Harker,  Jr. 

Joseph  N.  Johnson. 

Hubert  Elmer  Kiser. 

James  Ed.  Litz,  Thomas  Wright  Lawford. 

Harry  Fleming  INfacom,  Barns  Thompson  Moore. 

Victor  W.  McCall. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  681 

John  Milton  Newton.  Jr.,  William  Altxander  Neel. 

Joseph  Elmo  Peery,  Lawrence  Russell  Painter,  Russell  Barns 
Painter,  James  Sidney  Peery. 

John  Charles  Scott,  S.  Houston  St.  Clair,  Tom  Ganaway  Sj^ratt. 

Lacy  Paul  Wallace,  Robert  B.  Williamson,  James  Albert 
Wagner,  Uewey  Clyde  Wynn,  Thomas  Rawl  Witten,  Herbert  Ward. 

Total  35. 


ARMY. 

Colored. 


Burnett  Armstrong,  Irving  Armstcad,  Lee  Alexander,  Argro 
Armsteard,  George  Allen. 

Clarence  Blackstone,  John  Robert  Bakhvin,  Herbert  Odis  Bane, 
Arthur  G.  Bradshaw,  Will  Bradford,  Robert  Brooks,  William  Boat- 
man, Yoeman  Braxton.  Otis  Butler.  Emory  Bailey,  Charley  Barnes, 
Sonny  Branson,  John  Burford,  Jim  Ballinger,  F.  J.  Brown,  Kirt 
Bailej^,  Oscar  Edward  Brown. 

Herbert  Cox,  Rufus  Conner,  Henry  Crockett,  Emerson  Carson, 
John  Coulter,  Levi  Clark,  Clarence  Charlton,  John  Warren  Carroll, 
Frank  F.  Carroll,  Herbert  B.  Cross,  Dan  Crider,  Robert  Davis, 
Eugene  Franklin,  Frank  Fuller,  Leigha  Ford,  William  Fleming, 
William  McKinley  Ford. 

Ben  Glenn,  Aubray  John  Gant,  Charles  Green,  Edward  Gate- 
wood,  Clarence  Gant,  Stuart  Gillespie,  Lacy  George,  Clarence  W. 
Goodman,  Forace  Gallman,  Edd  Graham,  Sellers  Gilliam,  Walter 
Green,  Lacy  Goodman. 

Raish  Hodge,  Hampton  Holly,  James  Haskins,  Will  Hall,  Willie 
Hightower,  Wm.  A.  D.  Hickmond,  Johny  How^e,  Earl  Horton, 
Raleigh  Holly,  Otey  Wm.  Hunter,  Robert  Harber,  Frank  Harber, 
Van  June  Holland,  Charles  F.  Hobbs,  Andrew  Hairston,  Allen 
Harper,  John  Johnson  Holly,  Simon  P.  Holly,  Roscoe  McClure 
Harman,  Harman  Harris,  Ulyses  Higginbotham,  James  Harris, 
James  Higginbotham,  Hobart  Harris. 

Sam  Ingram. 

Charles  Robert  Johnson,  Timothy  Elias  Johnson.  Granville 
Jackson,  Jefferson  S.  Jordan,  Grant  Johnson,  Eddie  Jeffries. 

Henry  King,  Rolen  Kee. 


682  History  of  Tazewell  County 

Lacy  Benjamin  Lewis,  James  Leece,  Ira  Lanier,  John  Wyatt 
Lawrence. 

James  Molton,  Lee  Moseley,  Jesse  M.  Morris,  James  ]\fack, 
Simon  Maddox,  Thomas  Elbert  Matney,  Andrew  Morehead,  Joseph 
Moore,  William  Edward  Morris,  Charlie  Morgan,  William  Murphy, 
Lura  ]\Iorton. 

Robert  A.  Nickerson,  Trevalyn  INIilton  Nash. 

Lacy  Owens. 

Robert  Preston,  James  Poindexter,  Lacy  Preston  Peery,  Joseph 
Jethro  Pratt,  Henry  Phillips.  Charles  Pepper. 

Jack  Robinson,  Walter  Rippey,  Robert  Robinson.  P'niest  Rey- 
nolds. Sam  Robinson.  Eddie  Roberson.  Will  Roland.  William  Pies 
Robinson,  Roy  Rose,  George  Robinson. 

Governor  Walker  Smith,  Tom  Stiff,  George  Allen  Saunders, 
Charles  A.  Sinkford,  Raymond  Streets,  Charles  Smith,  Raymond  B. 
Steele,  Roy  Scott,  William  G.  Smith.  John  Steeples,  Ballard 
Sanders,  Boykin  Stone,  George  Marion  Staley,  Charles  George 
Steele,  Roy  Stuart,  Richard  Sinkford,  Walter  Franklin  Smith, 
James  Saunders,  Elmer  Sandy. 

Marvin  Thompson,  Robert  Thompson,  George  Turpin,  Wm. 
Lawrence  Thompson,  Isaac  Turpin.  Fess  Thompson,  Alexander 
Toliver. 

Lewis  Williams,  Harry  White.  Telfair  Washingion,  William 
Webster.  Ben  Worley.  Walter  J.  Ward.  Thomas  E.  Warren,  Felix 
Walker.  Henry  Wilson.  Charley  Walker.  Lee  Williams.  John  Rufus 

Webb,  Snooks  Willis. 

Total  158. 

S.  A.  T.  C. 


Colored. 


Walter  W.  Jackson. 
Horace  Bowser  Logan. 
Thomas  H.  Mitchell. 
Cecil  E.  McCollum. 
Dewey  Rowden. 
Arthur  Scales. 
James  Lightbum  Woody, 
Bernard  Isom  Witten. 
Total  8. 


and  Southwest  Virginia  683 

TIk'  following  is  a  list  of  men  from  Tazewell  County  who  were 
kilkd  in  action,  or  died  from  disease,  or  other  causes,  in  France 
and  in  the  training  camps  in  the  United  States: 

White. 

Pola  Andrew  Brooks,  George  Dewey  Bowman,  IMartin  Luther 
Bowling,  Ervin  Bane. 

Paul  Crockett,  S.  M.  B.  Coulling,  Jr.,  William  Henry  Cole, 
Aaron  Carter. 

Fielden  Kirk  Earles. 

Joe  Farris. 

Carnie  J.  Gillespie,  John  A.  Graham. 

David  Paul  Harris,  William  Henry,  William  Harman,  Carey 
John  Hodge,  J.  E.  Hurt,  Reese  Hall,  Henry  Ingle,  Thomas  A. 
Jackson. 

Robert  Frazier  McMeans,  Thomas  D.  jNIcCracken. 

Henry  Clarence  Neel,  Robert  Sidney  Neel,  Wiley  S.  Neal. 

Augustus  Peery,  William  E.  Peery,  Jr.,  Joseph  Everett  Porter, 
Lawrence  S.  Peak,  Roseoe  Pack. 

Leonard  M.  Reedy. 

John  Short,  Wash  Lee  Sayers,  Thomas  Ford  Shamblin.  James 
Clinton  Sturgess,  William  John  Selney. 

Roy  M.  Triplett,  Samuel  Eli  Turner,  Benjamin  H.  Thompson. 

Doak  Vandyke. 

Samuel  Henry  Wimmer,  Emory  Wilson. 

James  H.  Yates. 

Colored. 

Elmer  Bandy. 

James  K.  Haskins,  Hai-man  Harris. 

Roy  Rose. 

Charles  Arthur  Sinkford. 


684  History  of  Tazewell  County 


LOCAL   BOARD. 


S.  S.  F.  Harman,  Chairman. 

C.  W.  Greever,  Secreiari/. 

Dr.  P.  D.  Johnston,  Medical  Eaaminer. 

Nye  Britts,  Chief  Clerk. 


MEDICAL  ADVISORY   BOARD. 


Dr.  W.  R.  Williams,  Dr.  M.  B.  Crockett,  Dr.   H.  B.   Frazier, 
Dr.  Isaac  Pierce,  Dr.  R.  P.  Copcnhaver,  Dr.  W.  K.  Ritter. 


GOVERNMENT  APPEAL  AGENT. 

James  W.  Harman. 


INDEX 


Page 


Abb's  Valley,  Tazewell  County, 

Va 54 

Forts 55 

Captives  of -     60 

Patent  for .- 185 

History  of 514-515 

Abingdon,  Va 275,300,363  378 

Aborigines .— 3 

Mexico  and  Peru ...11-14 

North  America 15 

Arcadia 89 ,193 ,  194 ,  195 

Accomac  (Accammack) 

County 131 ,  140 

Adams,  John  Quincy....62,348,517,520 

Adams,  Samuel 344,347,348 

Albany,  N.  Y.,  Congress  at 190 

Albemarle  County  171 ,  173, 175 ,  176 ,  179 
Alexandria,  Va.,  Washington, 

Starting  from 190 

Braddock's  Conference  at 191 

Braddock's  Start  from.. 192 

Algongian  Indians...^ 16 ,43 ,87 ,  107 

"All  Saints  Bay" 76 

Alleghany  River 189 

AlleghanvMountains..l56.159.323,325 

Allen,  Etlian. '. 346,348 

Allen,  Hugh 313 

American  Nation,  Birth  of. 99-129 

Amusements  Among  Indians.. 64-65 

Andrews,  E.  Benjamin  (Hitorian)     73 

Amials  of  Augusta  County 159,161 

Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia .....89,193 

Apalachee  Wars 19 

Apalachee  Tribe. 23 

Appomattox  Tribe.. 143 

Arbuckle,  Matthew 305,312,356 

Arcadians,  French 69 

Deportation  of.    193-195 

Archdale,  Governor 44 

Argall,  Capt.  Samuel .....120,121 

Argall's  Gift... 122 

Armstrong,  John 195-196,198,203 

Aspinvale,  Va 275.377 

Assembly  of  Virginia.  First  Elec- 
tion  .122,125 

First  Meeting 126 

Petition  to  James  T 125 

Laws  Enact- 
ed   .127,128,129,139,333,662,670 
Atlantic  Coast,  Discovery  of 91 


Page 
Atlantic,  Mississippi  &  Ohio 

R.  R 662 

Augusta  County — 

Formed  __ 163,164 

Divided 179,229-230,291,305 

Men  at  Pt.  Pleasant  306 ,  31 1-313 ,  326 

Dunnmore's  War. 328 

Austinville,  Va 167,257 

Averill'sRaid 624-625 

Avills,  Pedro  Menendez  de, 

Expedition  to  Florida 82-84 

Ayllon,  Lucas  Vasquez  De... 78,79 

Aztecs..._ 5 

Laws,  Astronomy,  Agriculture, 
Mining,      Religion,      Human 

Sacrifices 6 

Reading,      Writing,      Women, 

Hieroglyphics 11 

Currency 12 

Empire 77 

B 

Bacon's  Rebellioa 52,136,138-146 

Plantation.. 138 

Expedition 138 

Commission 140 

Manifesto 141-142 

Bahamas  Islands 77 

Balboa,  Vasco  Munez  de... 77 

Bancroft, 

Historian 29,54,69,93,193,201 

Barger,  Philip 209 

Barns  Family. 426-428 

Barrier,  Casper 207 

Batson,  Mordecai 262 

Balte,  Capt.  Henry. 166,167 

"Battle  Knob,"  Tazewell  County, 

Va 56 

Bay  of  Campeachy. 77 

Bay  of  Fundy. ...89,194 

Beaver  Creek 265,266 

Bennett,  Richard 134.135 

Berkeley,  Gov.  Wm.,  52,131,133, 

134,135,138,139,145,165,166 

Bermuda  Islands.. 117, 120 ,  134 

Beverly,  Robt .....142,143.155 

Bickley's  Historv  of  Tazewell 
County...  53,54,55,56,57,60, 
171,232,234,246,248,254.293, 
294,360,366,526,533,659,660,667 

Big  Bone  Lick ,..-.. 211 

Big  Glades 378 


(685) 


686 


INDEX 


Page 
Bill  of  Rights— 

Continental- 338 

Virginia... 141 ,  354 

"Birth  of  a  Nation"  (America)....    99 
Black  Hills ,  Gold  Discovered  in....    26 

Black's  Fort 363 

Blacksburg,  Va 168,207,261 ,268 

Bland  County,  Va... 667 

Bledsoe,  Anthonv 257,260 

Blue  Ridge  Mountains 115,148,155 

Bluefield,  W.  Va 663 

Bluestone   River 185-209 ,  275 , 

277,283,299,300,334 

Bluestone  Valley. 515-516 

Bobadilla,  Francisco  de —     74 

"Boom,  The,"  of  1890 636 

Boone,  Daniel,  260.263,270,298, 

299,329  330,331,132,334,360,370 

Booneshorough,  Ky 332 

Boroughs  in  Virginia 122 

Boston,  Mass.,   194  343,344.345, 

346,347,348,352.660 

Boston  (Port  Bill) 336 

Botetourt,  Lord 36 

Botetourt  County,  Va 167,168, 

279,291,305,311,312,313,325,328,364 

Formed 229-230 

Bowen  Family 407-110 

Bowen  Homestead 295 

Bowen.  Capt.  Henry 636 

Bowen,  Moses 286.314.323 

Bowen,    Rees.    269.286,287  288, 

314  366,367,379.383.384 

Bowen,  Rees  T 408 

Bowen,  Samuel  Cecil 666 

Bowen,  Maj.  Thomas  Peery .  624 

Bowen ,  Win . .  286 .  288 , 3 1 3 , 3 1 4 .  378 ,  379 
Braddock,  Gen.  Edward,  45-191- 

192,194-196,199,203,207,304.315 

Braxton,  Carter 351 

Brewster,  Ebenezer 255 

Bristol,  Va 659 

Brit  ish  Government ,  172 ,  327 ,  328 , 

335,336,337.338 

British  Parliament 337,338,339 

Brittain,  Major  Rufus 545 

Broad  Ford,'Va_ 169.277 

BrowTi,  John,  Insurrection 585-592 

Brown,  Low 372 

Browne,  G.  W.  C._..- 660 

Brushy  Moimtain 294  365 

Buchanan  County 179,667,668 

Buchanan,  Va 167 

Buchanan,  Archibald 169,294 

Buchanan,  Col.  .John 164,171, 

175,180,224 

Buchanan,  Capt.  John..... 169,295 

Buford,  Capt.  Thos....291,305,311 , 

313,322 


Page 

Bunker  Hill 347 ,  348 .  349 

Bullocks,  Leonard  H 330 

Burbridge  Raid 628-631 

Burgesses  Chosen 122.126,146,147 

Burke's  Garden — 

Origin  of  Name 170 

Patent  for 185,277,367,659,671 

Burke,  James 170 

Burning  Spring 262 

Burroughs.  Anne 113 

Byrd,  William 259,330 


Cabell,  Wm 351 

Cabins  of  Pioneers 243-244 

Cabot,  John 76.85,90-92 

Cabot ,  Sebastiano 76 .  90-92 .  186 

Calhoun,  John  C 520 

California,  State  of. .576,577 

Cambridge,  Mass 343,344,346 

Cameron,  Alexander,  Agent 37 

Cameron,  Allen 352 

Camp     Union,     290,291,305,306, 

309,314,323 

Campbell,  Arthur. 36,257 

Letter  to  Dan  Smith .283-284 

Campbell,  Charles _ 165,169,177 

Campbell.. John 287.292,294,364 

Campbell,  Wm.   275,281,340,350, 

377,378,380 

Campbell's  Fort .  293,295 

Canada 102 , 1 60 , 1 63 ,  164 , 

186,352,359,360 

Cut   off  from   Louisiana 198 

Cape,  Breton ;. 9^ 

Charles 106,120 

Comfort. 107,116 

Fear  River. 85 ,  101 

Girardeau 47 

Good  Hope 78 

Hatteras 91 

Henrv 106 

Carroll  County,  Va 377,378 

Carter,  Dale .301 ,302 

Cartier,  James 86,87 

Castle's  Woods,  257.269,273,279, 

285,298,299 

Castle's  Garrison 299 

Cave  Gap. 176,177 

Cavendish,  Thomas 95 

Cayuga  Indians... 17,321 

Cecil,  Samuel..... ....57,299 

Cecil.  William 57 

Cecil  Family 404-406 

Chabot,  Admiral.. 86 

Chaleurs,  Bay  of. 86 

Champlain,  Samuel 89 

Chapman,  Hon.  Henley. 182. 183 


INDEX 


687 


I'age 
Character  of  First  Settlors  in 

Virginia         103-116,118,119 

Charles  I.  of  England.lOfi,  130, 131 ,  133 
Charles  II.  of  England,  133,134, 

136,137,142,144 

Charles  V.  of  Spain 8,78,79,82,92 

Charles  IX.  of  France 88 

Charles  City  ('ounty 122,131 

Charles  River  Shire 131 

Charleville  (French  Trader) 44-45 

Charter  for  Virginia,  61,62,102, 

103,112,120,130 
Cherokee  Indians — 

Territory. 30-31 

Clans 31 

Origin  of  Name ....: 31 

Treaty  with  England 30 

Hunting  Ground.. ....30-31 ,34-35 

Hunting  Ground  in  Virginia 35 

Treaty  with  Virginia 33 

War  with  South  Carolina 33 

War  with  South  Carolina  (1761)     34 

Allies  of  England  (1776) 37 

Expedition  Against  in  1776 38 

Expedition  Against  in  1779 39 

Alphabet  in  1821 40 

Since  1835 40 

Removed  to  Territory. 40 

In  Civil  War. 41-42 

Slave  Owners 41 

Nation 42,330 

Made  Citizens 42 

Commission 42 

Forts 54-55 

Allies  of  Whites 2l9 

Territory  Claimed 226 

Treaty  6f  1775 380,333 

Chesapeake  Bay,  96, 101 ,  106, 140 , 

146,351 

Exploration  of ll3 

Cehew,  Colby 172 ,  l78 

Chickahominy  Indians 51  ,•'^2 

Location 52 

Reservation 52 

Chickamauga,  Settlement  at _.-    39 

Chickasaw  Indians 19,21-22,44 

Conflict  with  Spaniards 21 

Conflict  with  the  French 22 

Treaty  with  U.  S 22 

Part  of  Choctaw  Nation 22 

In  Oklahoma 22 

In  Civil  War. 22 

Allies  of  Whites.. 2l9 

Chillicothe  (Ohio) .210,321 

Chiluk-ki  (Choctaw) 31 

Chiswell  Lead  Mines  35,38 

Choctaw  Indians... 19,20-21 

Territory. 20 

Origin  of  Name 20 


Page 

Choctaw  Indians — ^AgricuIture 20 

Citizenship .• 21 

In  Civil  War. 21 

In  Oklahoma 21 

In  1916 21 

Christian,  William 38,257 .258, 

271-275,340 

City  of  Henricus 122 

Civil  War,  Causes  of 563,604-605 

Civilization,  Essentials  of 671,672 

Claiborne,  Wm 130 

Clark's  Expedition  to  Illinois..370-375 
Clarke,    Gen.    Geo.    Rogers,   39, 

266,319,320,329,361,362,370-375 

Clay,  Henry 577 

Clear  Fork  Valley. 516 

Clinch  Mountain 175,294 ,338 

Clmch  River. ....:.....180,255 

North  Fork 365 

South  Fork 365 

Settlements 224-230 

Clinch  Valley—' 

Indians 42 

Upper _ 293 

Lower 260 

Settlers 365 

Settlements 361-374 

Clinch,  Wm 167 

Clover  Bottoms 283 

Coal  Depots 179 

"Coal  Land"..... 180 

Code  of  Laws,  Indian 59 

Coinage 480^81 

Coligny,  Admiral 88 

College  at  Henrico 123,127 

College  of  William  and  Mary 323 

Colonial  Council 104-105 .  107 , 

108,109,125 

Colonial  Governor's  Power 130 

Cokunbus,  Christopher....3,74,75, 

85,90,94 

Comanche  Indians 27,82 

Tribe  of  Shoshone 27 

Territory. 27 

Treaties  with  U.  S 27 

Reservation 27 

Report  of  1916 27 

Combahee  River. 78 

Commerce — • 

Phoenecian .12-13 

Colonial - 133 

Commissioners  to  Investigate  the 

Colony 124 

Committee  of  Safety 339,340,351 

Community  Life,  Colonial 241-255 

Community  System,  Colonial..  110, 121 

Concord,  Mass 344,345 

Confederate  Cabinet 598 

Confederate  Capital,  Richmond  ...  604 


688 


INDEX 


Page 
Connolly,  Dr.  John,  265,352,356,358 

Constitution  of  Virginia 355 

Constitutional  Convention 353-356 

"Constitutional  Union  Party" 594 

Continental  Congress 333,337 

Cordova,  Ferandez  de. 77 

Corn  Laws 324,333 

Cornstalk,  Shawaiee 

Chief. 309,310,315.316,317 

Cornwallis,  Lord ...151 ,382 

Cortes,  Herando 5,8,77,78 

Councils, 

Colonial. .104, 105, 107,  IDS,  109, 130 
Counties — 

Organized 126 

Formed 131 

Crabapple    Orchard,    Tazewell 

County,  Va 571 ,71 ,  180 

Creek  Indians 19,20-21 

Origin  of  Name 19 

Location 19 

Allies  of  English 19 

Treaty  of  1703-08 19 

Treaty  of  1790 19 

Nation  in  1916 20 

In  War ." 23 

Creek  War  1813-14 22 

Cresap,  Capt.  Michael....265,266, 

267,297,320 

"  Croatan" 98 

Crockett,  Capt.  Robt 367 

Last  Encounter  with  Indians  466-167 

Crockett's,  Fort  at 54,56 

Crockett ,  Walter. 257 ,  258 ,340 

Croghan,  George 263 

Cromwell,  Oliver 134-136, 143 

Culbertson's  Bottom 282 

Cull ,  James 207 ,  210 

Culpeper  County..  145 , 1 64 ,  182 ,  291 ,'  305 

Cumberland,  Duke  of 169,176 

Cumberland  Gap. 169,173,176-178 

Cumberland  Gap  and  Fincastle 

Turnpike 670 

Cumberland    Gap   and   Graham 

Road 670 

Cumberland  Mt. ,  Origin  of  Name.    169 

Cumberland  River 176-178 

Gumming,  Sir  Alexander. .     32 

Cummings,  Rev.  Chas 340,342 

Cundiff ,  John 314 

Curl's  Wharf 138, 139 

Currency,  Aztecs 12 

Peruviaa 12 

Tobacco. 148,164 


Dakota  Tribe 25 

Location  of.. 25 

Allies  of  the  British  in  1812 25 


Page 
Dakota  Tribe,  Social  Organization    25 

Polygamy. 25 

Treaties  with  U.  S 25 

Dale,  Sir  Thomas 119,120,121 

Dare,  Virginia 97,98,146 

Darien,  Isthmus  of. 77 

Dartmouth,  Earl  of,  266,303,323 

325,326,327  339,521 

Davis,  James 168,278 

Davidson,  Andrew 462,464 

Davidson,  John 461-462 

Declaration  of 

Independence,  1776 385,17,672 

Delaware  Indians 42 

Treaty  Violated  by 195 

Friendly 204 

Council  of,  206.267,303,304,309,356 
Delaware,  Lord  (Thomas 

West) ...116,119,121,126 

Democracy,  Jeffersonian 518-520 

Democratic  Party,  Formation  of,  565 
Democratic  Convention  of  I860....  593 

Denard's  Ford 381 

De  Soto,  Fernando-...18,20,21,25, 

29  53  95 
Detroit,  Mich.,  186,199-200,210, 

321,352,357,358,373 
Dial,    ,    Murdered     by    In- 
dians  459-460 

Dickinson,  John. 311,313 

Digges,  Dudley 351,355 

Dinwiddle, Gov. 33, 187,189,196,197, 206 

Discovery,  Ship 105 

District  of  Columbia,  Slavery  in..  577 

Dividing  Ridge 181 

Divorce  Among  Indians 63-64 

Doach,  Robt. 257, 258, 275, 278, 292, 296 

Doddridge.  Historian 247 ,  248-251 

Dolphin,  Ship 85 

Dolsberry,  Lyles 314 

Donelson,  Col 36 

Douglas,  James 258,260,261  286 

Dragging  Canoe,  Chief .39,330,331 

Drake,  Capt  ..  360 

Drake,  Sir  Francis 83,92,93.96,98 

Draper,  Mrs.  Geo 184,207 

Draper,Mrs.John  (Betty)  207,210,211 
Draper,  John, 207, 208, 210, 211, 215, 282 
Draper,  Lyman  C...    216,280,308, 

379,381,383 
Draper's    Meadows,   60,1591,68, 

173,184,262,275 

Draper's  Massacre 207,217 

Dress  of  Pioneers 246-248 

Dress,  Extravagence,  Punished  ...  127 

Drunkenness,  Punished 127 

Dry  Fork  of  Tug ...269,273,295 

Duhlonega,  Georgia 40 

Duncan,  John 298,299 


I  N  D  E  X 


689 


I'agv, 
Dunkards  Bottom  ...174,175,184, 

214,215 
Diinmore,  Gov.,  257,265.279-282, 

306-309.316-327,349-352 
Dunmore's  War     .36,43,46  211 

260 , 267 , 321 , 328 , 329 , 335 , 355 
Dutch  Gap,  Va. . — 120 

E 

East  River. 212 

"Eastern  Shawnees" 50 

Eastern  Shore 143 

Edmondson,  Wm._ 340 

Education,  Indian. 60-63 ,  127 

Tazewell  County 542-546 

Eggleston's  Springs 213 

Election  for  General  Assembly 122 

Election  (President)  of  1860... .593-598 

Elizabeth  City  Shire 131 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England...-92,100 

Elizabethan  Period 92-93 

Elizabethton,  Tenn 379 

Elk  Creek ...262 ,  305 ,  306 ,  307 , 314 

Elk  Gardea....... .275,276,298 

England,  War  with  France 186 

Contention  Over  Boundaries 193 

Erie  Indians 17 

Eskimo  Indians _— 4 

Arts  of 16 

Characteristics  of...... 15-16 

Dwellings  of 15-16 

Government.. 16 

Religion 16 

Estill,  Judge  Benjamin 531 

"Eternal  City,"  (Rome) 99 

Evans  Family  Massacre 437 

Everard,  Thos 355 

Expedition  to  Virginia,  1609  (3rd),  117 
Extermination  of  In- 
dians __.... 124,280,281,327 

F 

Fairfax,  Lord. .160, 162, 164 

Fallen,  Robt 166 

"Falling  Waters,"  Village  of. 109 

"Father  of  His  Country,"  First 

Public  Service ._.  189 

Ferguson,  Patrick. ...375-384 

Ferguson,  Samuel 515 

Field,  John....262, 291, 305, 306. 311-313 

Filmore,  President 577 

Fincastle  County — 

Formed 255-257 

First  Court 257-258 

Indian  Invasion. 259-318 

Ohio  Expedition 290-318 

Freeholders  of 340-343 

Address  to  Representatives  340-343 

Civil  Government 355 

First  Cargo  to  England 110 

T.H.— 44 


Page 
First  Settlers  in  Virginia — 

Character  of 103-116 

Sufferings  of lU ,  113 

"First  Supply"  for  Colonists 113 

Fiske,  John,  (Historian) ,  75 .  105 , 

114,126,147,155,156.161 

Five  Civilized  Tribes 20,21,24 

Five  Nations,  The 17 

Flat  Top  Mountain 179 

Coal  Developments 663 

Fleming,  Col.  Wm.,  291,306,310- 

312,314-316,322,330 

Flirting,  Punishment  of. 127,128 

Florida  Ceded  to  U.  S.  1823 23 

Origin  of  Name 77 

Spanish  Expedition  to 79 

Huguenots  in 82 

French  in. 87 

Ceded  to  Great  Britain...^ 201 

Flowerdien  Hundred 122 

Floyd,  John,  Capt.,  258,260,261, 
262 , 264 , 265 , 269  270 , 290 , 

314,326,330.332,370 

Expedition  to  Kentucky 262-263 

Fontaine,  John._ 149,155 

Food  Control 128-129 

"Forestallers"  (Speculators) 129 

Forrest,  Mrs._ 113 

Fort— Blackmore 285 ,  296 ,  299 ,  301 

Blair 322,323,352,356 

Binford 267 

ChiswelL_ 271  278 ,  363 

Cumberland. 192 ,  193 ,  196 

Dinwiddle 196 

Dunmore 290 

DuQuesne,  Battle 

of 45,189,192,198,207,211 

Edward 195 

le  Boeuf... 188 

Loudon 33 

Loudoun _ 197 

Meigs 49 

Mimms. 20 

Miami. 199 

Monroe 107 

Moultrie...- 24 

Necessity..- 190 

OnatanoiL 199 

Pitt 200,265,290,352,356 

Preston.— 285 

Randall.. 26 

Randolph.- 356 

Rosalie --.-  186 

St.  Joseph 200 

Sandusky. 200 

Stanwbc....- 35 ,  55 ,  259 ,  324 ,  329 

Stephenson 49 

Vass .215-217 

Wayne _..,...... 48 


690 


INDEX 


Page 

Forts ,  Front  ier. 242-243 

Fourteenth  Amendment 634 

Fowey  (Warship) 350 

France — 

War  with  England 186 

Contention  Over  Boundaries 193 

War  with  Prussia 201 

Francis  I.,  of  France 85 

Franklin,  Benjamin      191,261,348,517 

Loyalty  to  England 202 

Frederick  County 

Formed 163-164,304 

Frederick  the  Great,  of  Prussia  ..  201 

Free  School  System 545-546 

"Free-Soilers '"'.... 579,581 

French  Discoveries  and  Con- 
quests  73-84 

French  Huguenots,  Florida 69 

French  Settlement  in  America  .89,186 
French  and  Indian  War,  45,46, 

186-224.261,304,346,370 

Results  of 201 ,203 

Frobisher,  Martin.„_ 92,98 

Frontier  Forts 242-243 


G 

Gage,  Gen 343,344,346,347,352 

Gama,  V'asco  de 100 

Games,  Indian 65 

Gauley  Mountain... 306 

Garrison — - 

At  Maiden  Spring  Fort 286 

At  Witten's  Fort 287 

Gates,  Horatio 203 

Gates,  Sir 

Thomas.  12,102,117,118,119,120 
Geo.  I.,  King  of  England.  148, 149, 155 

George  II.,  of  England .171,225 

George  III.,  of  P^ngland,  32,144, 

202 , 328 , 339 , 34 1 , 343 ,348 

George,  Col.  Harvej' 533 

Georgia — 

De  Soto's  Expedition. 81 

Cherokees  in. 268 

Laws  Against  Indians 90 

Choctaws  in 21 

Militia  in  Indiana  War 23 

Gold  Discovered. 40 

German  Huguenots._ 160 ,366 

Gibson,  John 267,320,321 

Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey 93-94,101 

Gilbert,  Joseph 368 

GUbert,  Raleigh 102 

Giles  County,  Va 181,182,281 

Gillespie  Family 428-429 

Girty,  Simon 305,308,309,358 

Gist,  Christopher 172,173,181- 

183,188,189,204-206,324 


Page 

Gist  Expedition 172, 173 ,  181 

Godspeed,  Ship... 105 

Gold  Discovered  in  Sioux  Terri- 
tory.     26 

Gold  Discovered  in  Georgia 40 

Gooch,  Gov 160,164 

Gorges.  Sir  Ferdinando 101 

Gosnold,Bartholomew,101,105,106,112 
Government — 

Proprietary. 32,130 

Royal ..._ 32 

Indian 58-59 

Of  Early  Colonists 105-106 

Local  Self 121 

Representat  ive. 122 

Food  Regulation "...128,129 

Governor's  Power,  Colonial 130 

Graham,  Col.  William  L 627 

Graham,  Tazewell  County, 

Va 663 ,  664, 667 ,  670 

Grand  Pre,  Destruction  of. 195 

Great  Britain 338-343 

Great  Island  Treaty,  1776 38-39 

Great  Lakes 86, 116, 163, 186 

Great  Levels  of  Greenbrier 290 

Great  Lick 159,173,224 

Great  Meadows 190,304 

"Great  Spirit,"  The 10 

Greathouse 266,267,321 

Green  River '. 334 

Greenbrier  Company 225 

Greenbrier  River 175,178,179 

Grenville,  Richard 95 

Guest's  River 181 

Gulf  of  Mexico 74,186,201 

Gwynn's  Island 351 

H 

Habeas  Corpus 146 

Hagerstown,  Md 352,356 

Hakluyt,  Rev.  Richard._ 102,107 

Hale,  Dr.  John    .176,184,207,208, 

209,213,215 
Hambleton  (Hamilton) ,  John...287 ,294 

Hamilton,  Alexander..! 518 

Hamilton,  Henry. 357,358,359 

Hampton,  Col.  .Andrew 377,378.381 

Hampton,  Va 120, 122 

Hampton  Roads 96,106,119 

Hancock,  John 344,347 

Hanger,  Alaj.  Geo 375 

Hanson,  Thomas 261,262,263,270 

Hard  Labor,  South  Carolina, 

Treaty  of  1768 .35,227 

Harman,  Mathias 181 

Harman,  Daniel,  Killed  by 

Indians 465 

Harman  Family. 417-420 

Encounter  with  Indians 455-458 


I  N  D  f:  X 


691 


Pagre 

Harmon,  Adam 213 . 214 , 215 

Harmon,  Israel 276,299,518 

Harmon,  Jacob 276,518 

Harrison,  Capt 311 

Harrison,  Gen.  Wm.  Henry 48.50 

Harrisson,  Col.  Joseph 639 

Harrod,  Col.  James 270,314,332 

Harrodsburg 270,332,361,363.371 

Helm,  Capt.  Leonard 373 

Henderson,  Col.  Richard 330-333 

&  Company 334 

Henderson's  Transylvania  Co 332 

Henrico  College 61 ,  123 ,  124 ,  127 

Henrico  Shire 131 

Henry  VII.,  of  England 90-91 

Henry  VIII.,  of  England 91-92,337 

Henrv,  Patrick,  259,263,330,333, 

318-351,355,371 
Henry  Family  Massacre.  295,300,434 
Herbert,  Capt.  Wm..  .281,294,296  314 

Hickman,  John. 323 

Hochelaga,  Island  of 87 

Hojeda,  Admiral 75 

Holston — 
Valley  ...31.36,167,175,184,318,377 

River.. 168 ,  272 ,  302 .364 ,  376 

Settlements  ....  175 ,  285 ,  286 ,  302 , 

361,371,372,376-379 

"Home  Manufacturers" 525-529 

Hopewell  Treaty,  1786.... 22 

House  of  Bur- 
gesses... .126-127  , 129 , 132 , 280 , 353 
Howe,  (Histo- 
rian)..  131,139,321,325.326.336 

Howe  (Eng.  Gen.) 197,346,347,358 

Huguenots — 

In  the  Carolinas 83 

In  Florida 82,88 

Massacre -    84 

Hunters ,  Pioneer 253-255 

Huron — Iroquois  Nation 17 


Iberville  River 201 

Icelandic  Manuscripts 74 

Illinois  Indians 159 ,  160 

Illinois,  State  of 164,319 

Claimed  by  Virginia. 187 

Clark  Expedition  to 370-375 

Immigrants,  Scotch-Irish... 157 

Incas 8,9 

Indian — Amusements 64-65 

Athletics 64-65 

Ball  Playing 64-65 

Civilization. 58-60 

Code  of  Laws 59 

Councils j   59 

Dancing. 64-65 

Educational  System. 60-61 


Page 

Indian — Games 65 

Government 40,58-59 

Hunting  Grounds 159 

Kindergarten 61 

Language  (Written) 59 

Magic  Power 67 

Marriage  Customs 63-64 

Masquerade 114-115 

Massacres  in  Tazewell  Co....434-468 

Medicine  Maa 68 

Missions 147 

Religion 65-69 

Remains.- 167 

Schools..... 62-63 

Superstitions... 68 

Target  Practice. 65 

Treaty  of  1632 124 

Tribes  Csee  Names). 

Wars 20 

Witchcraft.., 68 

Women  in  CounoiL 59 

Indian  Bureau,  U.  S 62 

Indian  River 168 

Indian  Territory 18 

Creeks  Removed  to,  1836 20 

Choctaws  Settle  in 21 

Cherokees  Removed  to 40 

Opened  to  White  Settlers,  1889     42 

Shawnees  Moved  to 50 

Indians,  Extermination 

of 124,280,281,327 

Industry  of  Pioneers 522-529 

Ingles,  Mr.-.  Wm 207-214,262,263 

Ingles,  Wm 170 ,  173 ,  174, 184 

185,208,216,251,258,340 
Ingles,  Thom- 
as  .60, 159,1!^,  208, 210, 277 

Ingles  Family  Capture 443 

Insurrection  "of  John  Brown  .585-592 

Iron  Mountain .300,363,365 

Iroquois  Nation,  18,22,31,35,55, 

321,324,329,356,357 

In  1890 - --     18 

In  the  Revolution 18 

Confederation 58 

Treatvwith 259, ?64 

Ita  (Sun) 8 


Jackson,  Andrew. 20,23,156,519,520 

Jackson,  Stonew-all 148 

Jackson's  River 175 ,  196 

Jacobs,  Capt.,  Delaware 

Chief. ...195,196 

James  I.,  of  England,  62,100,102, 

'    104,105.114,123,125 

Death  of. 130 

Colonizing  Ulster 156 

Charters  Granted  by. 163,331 


692 


INDEX 


Page 

James  City  Shire 131 

James  River 108, 115 ,  138 ,  143 , 

146.167,172,173,179 

Exploration  of 109 

Description  of Ill 

Trees Ill 

Fruits Ill 

Game Ill 

Branch  of. 175 

James  River  Valley 159.167 

Attacks  on  Settlers  of 207 

Jamesto^vn,  51.52,85,98,108,112. 
117,119,122  130,133,134,140. 

143,145,146,148,281,327 

Council,  1619 61 

Settlement  of 99-129 

Forts  at 108,110 

First  Church  at 126 

Jamestown    Island,    Description 

of 107-108 

Jefferson,   Thos.,   52,53.106.141, 
145,161,321,329.333  355, 

364, 371, 517, 523, 5^;  672 

Secretary  of  State  517-518 

Theory  of  Government 519 

On  Agriculture 523 

"Missouri  Question" .564-565 

Jeffcrsonian  Democracy 518-520 

John  Brown  Raid 586-592 

Johnson,  Sir  Wm. 198. 220 

Johnston,  Dr.  George  Ben 659 

Johnston,  John  Warfield. 539 

Johnston,  Wm 330 

Jones,  Rev.  Hugh 149 

Jones,  Capt.  Jno.  Gabriel 361 

Jumonville.  French  Commander..  190 


K 

Kanawha  River.  206,209-212,259- 

262 . 290 , 30 1 -326 . 356- 360 

Kanawha  Valley..  259 ,  260 ,  305 .329 

Kaskaskia 159,186,372.373,374 

Kentuckv.  159,164,169,173,176, 
177 , 178 , 181 . 187 , 205 , 259 , 261 , 
262 , 263 , 264 , 268 . 270 , 326 . 328 , 
329 , 331 , 332 , 333 . 334 . 360 , 361 , 

362,363,370.371,371 

Coimty  Formed 356,361-363  364 

Settlement  of 328-334 

Suffrage  Qualification 363-364 

Kentuckv 

River. 270 ,  272 ,  275 ,  330 ,  331 ,  359 

Kindergarten,  Indian 61 

King  William  County,  Va. 51,52,53 

King's  Moimtain,  Battle 

of 277,375-388 

Kittanning   (Indian  Town) 195,198 

Klamath  Tribe ,... ... .  ...„  „    28 


Page 
L 

Labrador,  Discovery  of 90,148 

Laird,  James 379.387 

Lakes — Champlain 89 ,  346 

Erie 86,151 

Huron 86 

Michigan 199 

Maurepas 201 

Ontario 86 

Pontchartrain. 201 

Superior 86 

Titicaca 8 

Lammey,  Samuel 295 

Land  Grants. ..„ 137 

West  of  Alleghany 

Mountains 323,329,334 

Land,  Private  OwTiership  of 121 

La  Roche,  Marquis 88 

La  Salle,  Robt.,  do 186 

Laudonniere 84,88 

Lead  Mines ...35  38,257,271 

In  Wythe  County 167 

In  P'incastle  County. ...340,349, 

355,377,378 

Lee,  Richard 142 

Lee,  Richard  Henry. 340 

Lee,  Robert  E.,  Commander  in 

Chief  of  C.  S.  A._ 603-604 

Legislature,  First  in  Colonies..  122, 126 

Lenard,  Henry 207,210 

Leon,  luan  Ponce  De. 77 

Lewis,  Andrew,  33,46,161,196, 
203,219.225,2.59  279,290, 
291 , 302 , 303 , 306 , 307 , 309 . 

311-318, 325, 326, .351, 352 

Lewis,  Charles 38,161 ,291 ,305, 

306,311,312.313 

Lewis,  John 160,161, 164, .306, 312 

Lewis,  Thomas 161 ,  164, 171 

Lewis  Expedition. 284,285,293,328 

Lexington,  Battle  of. 345 

Lincoln,  Abraham 22,145,162,519 

Letter  to  Stephens... 597 

On  Slavery ,597-601 

Lochaber.  S.  C 326.329 

Lochaber  Treaty 36,228,230 

Logan,  Benjamin ,332 

Logan,  Mingo  Chief 360,371 

Massacre  of  Familv 266 

Sister's  Child ...'. 267 

Letter  to  Cresap 297 

Message  to  Dunmore 320-321 

Origin  of  Name... 321 

Logstown,  Council  with  Indians 

at 188,204,205.206 

London  Company — 
First  Charter,  102,103,104.112, 
113,114,117  120,123, 
124,127,130,148,155,163 


INDEX 


693 


Page 
London  Company — 

Second  Charter 116-117,130 

Third  Charter. 120 

General  Court  of 122 

Dissohition  of..._ 125-126 

Petit  ion  Against 131-132 

"Long  Hunters" —.    31 

Long  Island,  Holston  River. 38 

Looney,  Absalom 514 

Loudoun,  Lord,  superseded 197 

Louis  XV.,  of  France 191 

Louisa  River. 269,273,276 

Louisiana,  Colony 

of .150,186,198,261,329 

Louiston,  Ohio 50 

Louisville,  Ky 181 ,205 

Love,  Capt 311 

Loyal  Companv,  Land  Grant..34, 
171,172,173,180.181, 

185,224,225,226,327 

Lybrook,  Philip 208,209,281 

Ly brook  Family 82-284 

Lybrook  Massacre 281-282 

Lynchburg,  Va 173 ,  658 

Lynnhaven  Bay 107 

Lynnhaven  River 106 

Mc 

McClannahan,  Capt. ...312,313 

McClehany,  James 286 

McClure,  Capt.  Francis 267 

McCorkle,  James 355 

McDonald,  Col.  Angus. 304 

McDowell,  Col.  Chas.. 377 

McDowell,  Col.  Joseph.. 376 

McDowell  County,  W.  Va.— 

Wealth  of. 556-559 

In  World  War. 558-559,667,668 

McGavock,  James 257.258,340,355 

McGriflf,  JohiL .281 ,282 

McGriff,  Thos _ 282 

McGuffin,  Joha 262 

McKee,  Alexander 358 

M 

Mad  Anthony"  (Gen.  Wayne)....    47 

Magellan,  Ferando  de .....7,77,78 

Magistrates  Appointed..... :.  131 

Mahone,  Gen.  William 662 

Maiden  Spring. ..269, 279  287,288, 

295,364,367 

Fort 286 

Mama  Oella 8.9 

Manco 8,9 

Manito  (Manitou) 67 

Manteo,  Chief  Lord  of 

Roanoke 95 ,  97 

Marion,  Francis 33,34,203 

Marion,  Smyth  County, 

Va ._ 36,168,174,184,218 


Page 

Markeland 73-74 

Marl  in,  John 159 

Marriage,  First  in  Virginia  Colony  113 

Marriage  Customs,  Indian 63-64 

Martin,  John 106 

Marvland 138 ,  146 ,  158 ,  161 

Massachussetts 41,146  336,343,344 

Massacre  of  1622 123 

Of  1644 132-133 

Draper's  Meadows 204, 207-217 

Fort  Vass 216-217 

Mason,  Geo 141 

Mastodon  Remains 500 

"Mattapanient,"  Indian  Town 53 

Mattapony  Indians ...51 ,52,53 

Location 53 

Reservation 53 

"Mathalgalum"..., 482 

Matthews ,  Samuel 124 ,  134 

Maxwell,  .James 276,515 

Maxwell,  Thos,  276,277,288,299, 

300,368,379,515 

Maxwell's  Gap 277 

Maxwell  Family 278,432-433 

Medicine  Lodge  Treaty,  1867 27 

Medicine-Man,  IndiaiL... 68 

Menendez  de  Avills, 

Pedro 69,82,84,88 

Mercer,  Hugh. 196,203 

Mercer,  James 351 

Mercer  County,  W.  Va 179,181,661 

Mineral  Wealth..... 559-560 

Mexican  Indians 11 

Mexican  War 571-576 

Mexico 5,79,82,329 

Miami  Indians 205 

Miami  River. 205 

Middle  New  River 181 

Settlements. 182 

Middle  Plantation 140, 142 

Military  Government 634 

Mingo  Indians,  206,267,293,297, 

302,309,318,319 

Missionaries  Among  Indians 61 

Mississippi  River,  Discovery 

of........81,172  173,186,199,331,360 

Missouri  Compromise. 563-566 

"Mistress  of  the  Seas"  (Eng- 
land)     92 

Moffit  Children  Captured..... 464 

Mohawk  Indians 17,18 

Mohican  Indians ...44, 204 

Monkton,  Gen.,  Commander 

British  Fleet 194 

Monongahela  River  .188 ,  189 ,  194 , 

206,297,359 

Monroe,  Pres.,  James. 23 

Montcalm,  Gen 195, 198 

Montezuma 8 


694 


INDEX 


Page 

Montgomery,  John 39,257,304, 

355,372 

Montgomery,  Richard 197,203 

Montgomery  County,  Va.  185,216.356 

Formed 362-365 

Suffrage  Qualification ...363-36i 

Montgomery,  Thomas 33,34 

Monticello,  Va 517 

Montreal,  Can 87,89,199,200,206 

Mooney,  James 309,311 

Moored  Henry 258 

Moore,  Capt.  James  ..233,388,411,451 

Moore.  James 60,159,447,451,514 

Moore,  Polly 60 

Moore,  William 415 

Moore  Family  of  Abb's  Val- 
ley  " 411-417 

Moores,  Massacre  of 451-454 

Moore's  Fort 298,319 

"Morris  Knob,"  Tazewell  County, 

Va 56,364,365 

Morgan,  Daniel 203-305 

Moravian  Missionaries 39 

Mont-Real  (Montreal) 87 

Mount  Vernon 201 

Mountain  Lake,  Giles  County..  181-183 

Moscoso 81 

Murray,  John,  Earl  of  Dunmore  ..  257 

Murray,  Capt.  John 313 

Musgroye's  Mill 376 

Muskogean — Indians _ 18-23 

Agriculture 18 

Dwellings 18 

Confederacies 18 

Muskingan,  Indian  Town 205 

N 

Naragansett  Bay 350 

Narvaez,  Pamphilo  de 79 

Nashville,  TenrL.._ 44 

Natchez,  Miss 81,186 

National  Convention  of  1852. 578 

Nation's  Pre-Incarial 10 

Navigation  Law. 136 

New  England. 133, 151, 156, 346, 347, 349 

New  Mexico,  Territory  of 577 

New  River,  34,159,166-168,171, 
173,174,175,178.179,180,182, 
184,185,209-213,258,268,269, 
273,274  278,281-285,290,300, 

302,315,325,326,343,350,377 

Settlemenst... 276,282,285,302 

Valley 166,214,268.281,300,362 

New  River  Railroad,  Mining 

and  Manufacturing  Co 661 

New  World,  Discovery 73-76 

New  York.  ...146,150.160,203,326,375 

Indian  Tribes  in 191 

Volunteers  fronx 192 


Page 

Newfoundland 74,85,86,93,118 

NewDort,  Capt.  Christopher,  103, 

109,110,117,119,148,155,166 

E.Kpedition  to  Virginia 105-108 

Return  to  Jamestowa...._ 112-115 

Niagara 186,200,206 

Fortifications  at 191 

Surrendered  by  French 198 

"Nonesuch,"  (Site  for  Colony)  .    117 
Norfolk  &  Western  R.  R.  Co., 

Organized... 662-663 

North     Carolina,     32,81,96,145, 
172 , 296 , 268 . 297 , 330 . 332 , 
333,363  364.376,378,381,382 

Council  of  Safety,  1776 38 

Insurrection... ._ 145 

Northwestern  Indians 259 . 328 , 

331,356,357,370 

Nova  Scotia 69,74,85,89,91,329 

First  Permanent  Settlement 193 

Oppression  of  People 194 

O 

Oconostota,  Indian  Chief 32,331 

Ohio,  State  of,  161,262.264,267, 
279,281,284,285,287,297, 
301,302,-303,304,306,314, 

321,-325,332,336,352 

Claimed  by  Virginia 187 

Ohio  Company,  172,180,181,183, 

204-206,225 

Land  Grant. .- 172 ,  187-189 

Organized..  187 ,  188 ,  189 ,  204-206 ,  225 

Ohio  Expeditioa..._ 290-318,336 

Equipment 307 

Army  Dress 307 

Fleming's  Journal 315 

Battle  of  Point  Pleasant 311-318 

Treaty  with  Indians 318 

Ohio  Indians 265 .  268 ,  322 ,329 

Ohio  River,  159,172-181,259,262- 
270  279,282,290,293, 
303-322 , 328-334 , 356-372 

Falls  of._ 204-212,371 

Ohio     Valley,     159,187,204,207, 

265,279,290,293 

Taken  by  France.__ 190 

Fortifications  in 191 

English  Driven  from 197 

Oklahoma 18,21 ,41  81 

Old  Point  Comfort..... 107 

"Omnibus  Bill". 577 

Oneida  Tribe... 17,321 

Onondaga  Indian.s._ 17 

Opechancanough,  Indian 

Chief 52,123,133 

Orange  County,  Va 162,163,164 

Osceola,  Indian  Chief 23-24 

Ottawa  Indians.... 204.205.309 


INDEX 


69  5 


Page 
P 

Pacific  Coast  Iiuiiiuis 27-28 

Characteristics 28 

Government  Report  in  1917. 28 

Pacific  Ocean,  named  in  1517 78 

Pacific  Ocean,  Route  to.. 100 

Page,  John 351 

Paint  Lick  Mountain 365 

Pamlico  Sound 85,95 

Pamunkey  Indians 51-53 

Origin  of  Name 51 

Location ..51-52 

Reservation ■. 52 

Panic  of  1873 662 

Panic  of  1893 663-664 

Paris,  Treatv  of 187,200,202 

Patton,  Col.'Jas 165,174  207.217 

Patton-Walker  Expedition.... 184 

Pauling.  Capt 312 

Peery,  Maj.  David 419 

Peery,  Dr.  Fielding 235 

Peery,  John 379 

Peery,  Squire  Thomas 255 

Peery,  Thomas 379 

Peery,  Wm 372 

Peery,  Capt.  Wm.  E 671 

Peery  Family. 279,289,420^24 

Pemberton,  Richard .458^59 

Pendleton,  Edmund 340,351 ,353 

Pennsylvania    .146, 156, 158, 159- 
161,174,183,215,262- 

267,298,321,358,366 

Indian  Tribes  in 191 

Western  Attacks  Upon  Settlers 195 

Percy,  Geo....l06, 110 , 111 ,  117 ,  118, 119 

Peru 7-9,25,79 

Agriculture.  Artizans.  Aque- 
ducts, Civilization,  Domestic 
Arts,  Indians,  Irrigation  of 
Land,  Land  Ownership,  Mone- 
tary System,  Religion. 

Philadelphia,    Pa 89,157,336, 

337,339,340.348 

Braddock's  Retreat 193 

Philip  II.,  of  Spain 82.92,97 

Philip  III.,  of  Spain 103 

Phoenician  Alphabet..... 12 

Phoenician  Commerce 12-13 

Pickaway  Plains 309,317 

"Pioneers,"  Character  of. 231-232 

Pioneer  Families 401-433 

Pioneer  Household  Equip- 
ment   239-241 

Cabins 243-244 

Dress 246-248 

Hunters ......253-255 

Industry „ ...522-529 

Manufactures 522-529 

Social  Customs 520-522 


Pase 

Pioneers — Transportation...- 524 

Weapons 242 

Wedding 248-253 

Pitcairn,  Mai 344-345 

Pitt,  Wm 197,339 

Pittsburgh. 188 ,  190 ,  265 ,  266 ,290 

Strategic  Importance  of 189 

First  Fort  at 189-190 

Name  Given  to. 198 

Conference  at....303-318-325-352-371 

Pizarro,  Francisco 7,9, 79 ,80 

Pocahontas,  Indian  Princess....ll2-115 

Baptism  of. 120 

Marriage 120 

In  England 121 

Death  of 121 

Pocahontas ,  Tazewell  County ,  179 , 

181,515,663,664,667,670 

Point  Comfort 116 

Point    Pleasant,   46,261,216,161, 

270,281,286,310 

Battle  of. 311-318 

Treaty  of,  317-324,326,328,332, 

337,352,358,366 

Pontiac.  Indian  Chief 199 

Pontiac's  War 200,267,304 

Poor  Valley 294 ,  365 ,  553 ,  660 

Popham,  George 102 

Popham,  Sir  John 102,103 

"Popular  Sovereignty," 581 

Port  Royal,  Nova  Scotia 89,193 

Postal  System .....147-151 

Postmaster  General  of  Virginia, 

Colony 151 

Potomac  River 113,181,188 

Exploration  of .....: 113 

Pound  Gap... -— 181 

Poutrincourt,  Captain 89 

Powell ,  Ambrose 172 ,  176 ,  178 ,  179 

Powell  Valley ...181 ,208,331 

Powhatan  Con- 
federacy.  16,51,52,53,106,110 

Powhatan,  Indian  Chief. ...52, 109, 

113,114,120,123T33 

Crowned  King 114 

Vassal  of  England 114 

Powhatan,  Village  of..... 109,117 

Preston,  Col.  Thos.  L 165,176 

Preston.  Col.  Wm.,  Journal  of 220 

208,219,257,268,271,273,286, 

288-292 , 302 , 330 , 332 , 340 , 355 

Letter  to  Col.  Christian 175 

Profiteering 339 

Putnam,  Israel 203,343,647 

Q 

Quaker  Meadows 380 

Quaker  Missionaries  in  1740 44 

Qualla  Reservations,  N.  C 40 


696 


INDEX 


Page 
Qiiapaw  Tribe 24 

Village 25 

Quebec,  Can 87,89 

Taken  from  France...^ 197 

"Queen  Anne,"  Indian  Queen 52 

Quiltings 244-246 

R 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter..93,95,98,100,101 

Randolph,  Edmund 355 

Randolph,  Hon.  Peyton 340 

Rapidan  River. 147,148,158 

Ratcliffe, 

John. 105,106,112413,115,118 

Ray,  Joseph,  Family  Killed 465 

Raymbault,  Chas.,  Jessuit 

Pioneer... 186 

Red  Men,  Origin  of. 3 

Reed  Creek 174,184,273,283,362 

Settlement 286 

Valley 278 

Reedy  Creek...„_ 297 ,319 

Settlement _ 174 

Religion — 

Indiaa_ 65 

Persecution.- 69  157 

Services  in  Virginia  Colony  .108,119 
Denominations  in  Tazewell 

County 540-542 

Representative,  Government 122 

Republican  Part}',  Origin  of 571 

Reservations,  Indian — 

Sioux._ 26 

Comanches 27 

Qualla,  N.  C- 40 

Pamunkey 52 

Tulalip,  Wash 62 

Revolutionary  War..._ 267 .305-388 

First  Battle .'. 328 

Campbell  Expedition  to  N.  C...  388 

Spies 368 

Ribault,  John. 88 

Rich  Mountain,  Va 56,57,293 

Battle  of 55,671 

Rich  Valley- 169,278,294,295,300 

Richlands,  Tazewell  County, 

Va 513,663,667 

Richmond,  Va....l09,117,138,168, 

349,351,353 

Confederate  Capital 604,660 

Ridpath,  (Historian) 195 

Roanoke  (Lick),  Va. .60,159 

Colony ......96,113,146 

Indians 97 

Island  (Wocoken) 94-97 

River 159 

Valley .....168,173,184 

Roark,  James 365 

Roark  Family  Massacre 440 


Pag-e 

Roberval,  Lord  of. 87 

Rockingham  Coimtv 164,167,179 

Rolfe,  John.. '. 120,121,122 

Rolfe,  Thomas  (Son  of  Poca- 
hontas)   121 

Roads  in  Tazewell  County 530-536 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  64.176,242, 
243.246  265,315, 
321,322,357,359,380 

Roque,  Francis  de  la 87 

Round  Meadows 378 

Royal  Councils. ._ 104-105,107,109 

Royal  Government  in  1776 ...37,328 

Royal  Oak,  Smyth  County, 

Va 36,268,283.293,294, 

295,297  300,361,365 
Russell,    Wm.,    257-260,263,274, 

281-291 , 302-31 6 , 323-342 

Russell  Co.... 257,258,302 

Formed. 391-392 ,  670 


St.  Augustine,  Fla 24,77,83,84,120 

St.  CroLx  River 186,194 

St.  Helena  Sound _ 78 

St.  John's  River,  Fla 69,82,88 

St.  Joseph  River  . 186 

St.  Lawrence,  Gulf  of 85,91 

St.  Lawrence  River,  Discovery 

of ; 86,186 

St.  Louis  River 86 

St.  Pierre,  Gea 188,189 

Sallmg,  .John. ._ 60,159,160 

Saloop  (Sassafras) 110 

Salt  Pond 183 

Salt  Pond  Mountain 183 

Salt  Works,  Battle  of 628-631 

Sandy  Expedition 218-223 

Sandy  River 271 ,281 ,283 ,285 

Savannah  Indians 44 

Scalps,  Commercialized 204 

Price  of 357 

Schools  for  Indians 62-63 

Scioto  River. 205,210,211 

Scotch-Irish  Pioneers 156 

Origin  of  Name 157 

Immigrants 157 

Scott  County _ 257,285,296,301 

Sea  Venture,  Ship 117,120 

Secession 596-605 

Seminole  Indians ...19,22-24 

Origin  of  Name .       22 

In  War  of  1775. 23 

In  War  of  1812 23 

Treaty  with  U.  S.,  1832 23 

Reservation  in  Arkansas 24 

In  1916 24 

In  Oklahoma 24 

Seneca  Indians. 17 ,  18 ,  199 ,  204 


INDEX 


697 


Page 
Sequoya,  Inventor  of  Cherokee 

Alphabet  ,     uaV  Vi         it^ 

Settlements,  Shenandoah  Valley  .  1^'^ 

Seven  Mile  Ford „_  jil 

Sevier,  Col.  John... 376_379 

Shawnee  Indians -^^  'i\ 

In  Clinch  Valley ^^ 

Location - . , 

Moved  from  South  Carol  ma t* 

Settled  in  Virginia  and  Mary- 

land ;  t1 

Settled  in  Pennsylvania -■    *^ 

In  French  and  Indian  War. 44-40 

In  Ohio,  1730 f 

In  Tennessee ^. 

On  Savannah  River.. |^ 

45 
46 


47 
49 
50 

50 
50 


On  Susquehanna 
Treaty  of  Greenville... 

In  Revolutionary  War. 

Defeat  the  U.  S.,  1791  47 

Defeated  by  U.  S.,  1794 47 

Treaty  with  U.  S.,  1795 

In  War  of  1812 

Moved  to  Indian  Territory.. 
Incorporated  with  Cherokee 

Nation,  1869 

Moved  to  Kansas 

In  Oklahoma ^^ToA 

The  Tribe 309,318 

Shelby,  Capt.  Evan ^39,281,291 

Shelby,  Isaac 310,313  ,3i^ 

Shenandoah  Valley  Settle- 

ment 155,167,174 

Shires  Created ^^^ 

Shoshonean  Tribe.. --     tT. 

Sinclair,  Chas 168,169,174 

Sinking  Cr-eek 208,209,262 

Massacre  of 0/97 

Sioux  (Sioun)  Indians 24-^^ 

Territory  of j3. 

Gold  in  Black  Hills ^^ 

Treaty  with  U.  S... -  -  -     j^ 

Wars  with  U.  S '^ 

Escape  into  Canada — ^^ 

Return  to  U.  S - 

Ceded  Land  to  U.  S 

Reservation  in  South  Dakota . 

Sitting  Bull,  Indian  Chief ^^ 

Six  Nations,  The,   17-18,36,205 

226-227  ,303  ,356 ,357 

Slavery  Among  Indians -    59 

In  Virginia  Colony  -.^„  ^^f 

Question. 563-bOo 

Slaves,  Fugitive  - ^„    ' 

Smith,  Daniel,     258  ,275-278  283 

286  292  ,295  ,296  ,299  ,300 
Smith,  Capt.  John. ...  51  101  106 

108,109,114,118,120,229 


Page 
Smith,  C'apt.  John- 
Member  of  Council 110 

Quarrel  with  Wingfield     112-113 

Letter  to  Roval  Council 115 

Smith,  Dr.  John 352 

Smith,  Col.  Robert 630 

Smyth  County 168  ,169 ,275  , 

277  ,292 ,294 

Snidow,  Mrs 282 

Social  Customs  of  Pioneers 520-522 

Somers,  Sir  George 102  ,117  ,118  ,120 

Southwest  Virginia. 36 ,257  ,280 

Description 30-31 

Wild  Game..........311  ,66,171-175,178 

Spain,  Civilization 13 

Commerce  of 13 

Title  to  New  World 91 

Spanish  Discoveries  and  Con- 
quests..     .73-84 

Spies  in  Revolutionary  War. .  368 

Spottswood,  Alexander. 146  .147 

Expedition 148  ,149  ,151  ,155  , 

157,163,166,167,186,187 

Spottsylvania  County 147  ,158 

Stalnaker,  Samuel 174  ,218 

Stark,  John 203  ,346 

"The  Starving  Time" 118 

"States  Rights"...... 581 

Staunton,  Va 174 ,179 

Staunton  River,  Branch  of. 173 

Stephens,  Adam 196 ,304 

Stoner,  Michael .263  ,270 

Stuart,  John,  Negotiates  Treaty      ■     - 

with  Cherokees.. 227  ,326 

Suffrage  Qualification — 

In  Kentucky  County 363-364 

In  Washington  County 363-364 

In  Montgomery  County 363-364 

■  Susan  Constant  (Ship) 105 

Swift  Run  Gap 148 

Sycamore  Shoals... .-  37j 


26 
26 

27 


Trial   oL 


110 


Tabb,  John. 351 

Tampa  Bay,  Fla -    81 

Taxation 126,136-137,139,144,147 

Taylor,  Capt.  James --  367 

Taylor,  Hancock 202  ,260  ,270 

Taylor,  Zachary 577 

Tazewell,  John...... 3M 

Tazewell  County,  Colonial 2^~4^§ 

Indians ^^ '^^"o^ 

Scenery... _-;---     30 

History  of -55  ,171 ,293 

First  Land  Grant -  l^l 

Exploration  of *1^ 

First  Military  Expedition .---  22U 

Pioneer  Settlers 231-255 

First  Forts 242-243 


698 


INDEX 


Page 
Tazewell  County;  Colonial — 

In  Revolutionary  War 247 

King's  Mountain... 358-375 

Equipment  of  Soldiers 380 

Clark  Expedition  .- 372 

Formation  of  Coimty 393-397 

Origin  of  Name 396 

Pioneer  Families .401-433 

Indian  Massacres 434-468 

Tazewell  County;  Ante-Bellum 

Period...- 471-560 

Organization 471 

First  Court 471 

First  Court  House 473^75 

First  Grand  Jury 477 

First  Tavern 478 

County  Scat 478 

Militia  Organized 479 

Tavern  Kates 481-482 

Second  Court  House 482-183 

Boimdaries 486-488 

Mountains... 488 

Streams 489-195 

Sections  of  Coimty. 496-516 

Character  of  People 517-529 

Social  Customs 520-522 

Timber. 527-529 

Artizans  in  1850 529 

Census  of  1850 529 

Roads 530-536 

Population...^ 536  539 

Wealth 53fr-539 

Religion 540-542 

Education 542-546 

Civil  Descent 547-  552 

Mineral  Wealth. 552-560 

Present  Boundaries... 552-556 

Tazewell  County  in  Civil  War.  606-654 
Number  of  Companies....607, 638-654 

Financial  Losses 611 

Food  Production. 611 

Faithful  Slaves 611 

Patriotic  Womea.._ 611-612,613 

Homespim  Clothes 612-613 

Dyestuffs 613 

Raids  bv  Enemy... 613-631 

Reconstruction...... 631-637 

County  Government 637 

Officers  in  Army 638 

Company  A. 639 

Company  G. 639 

Company  H 639 

Company  K 640 

Company  C 642 

Tazewell  Troopers 642 

Independent  Partizan  Rangers..  643 

State  Line  Battalion 648 

Home  Guard  Co 648-650 

Union  Home  Guard 649-650 


rage 
Tazewell  County  in  Civil  War — 

List  of  Field  Officers 651 

Falls  Mills  Soldiers 652-654 

Tazewell  Countyj  Post  Bellum 

Period 657-672 

Slaves  in  Tazewell 657 

Population. 658 

Public  Schools 658 

Real  Estate 658 

Railroads...- 659-663 

Minerals...- 660 

Coalfields 660-664 

Migration  to  Missouri. 660 

Population  in  1880,  1890,  1900, 

1910 666 

To-wTis 667 

Wealth  in  1890,  1918 666-667,672 

Banks  in  Tazewell  County....666-667 

Education 667-668 

Good  Roads 669-671 

Magisterial  Districts 669 

Bond  Issue  System. 669 

Pauperism. 672 

Tazewell ,  Va 180-365 

Tecumseh 19 ,48-50 

Tennessee  81, 159, 167, 169, 215, 297, 332 

In  Indian  War 23 

Indians 43 

River...... 363,372 

Teaskawatawa,  Shawnee 

Prophet 48 

Texas 41 ,  186,329,577 

Settlement  of _ 566 

Republic  of 566 

Admitted  a  State 567-571 

Thames,  Battle  of.  1813 49 

"The  Great  Spirit" .?. 66 

Thomas,  Benjamin 459-60 

Thompson,  Archibald. 368,425 

Thompson,  James 257 , 258 , 274 , 285 

Thompson,  Wm... 170 

Thompson  Family 424-426 

Thompson  Valley 293-319 

Thwartes  and  Kellogg  (Dim- 

more's  War) 260,263,286,310 

Ticonderoga,  Fort 195,197,346,348 

Tippecanoe.  Battle  of,  1811 48 

Tobacco,  Commercialized 121 

Clergymen's  Salary 128 

Currency 148-164 

Toland's  Raid 613-622 

Toltecs 6-11 

Architecture,  Cotton  Grow^- 
.  ing,  Earthenware,  Hierogly- 
phics, Laws,  Maize  Cultiva- 
tion, Migration  of,  Mining. 
Religion,  Sundials.  Weaving. 

Tories  and  Whigs.. 518-520 

Totopotomoi,  Indian  Chief 52 


I  N  D  E  X 


699 


Pago 

Town  House,  Chil- 

howie 272,274,275,293,294 

Trans  Alleghany  Pioneers,  176,184,207 
Transylvania  Co  261,332,333,361,362 

Travis,  Champion 355 

Treaties — ■ 

Cherokee  Nation,  1730 32 

Cherokee  Nation .228-229 

Cherokee  Nation,  1775 330-333 

Chickasaws,  1786 22 

Chickasaws,  1855 22 

Comanches 27 

Fort  Stanwix.. 46,55 

Great  Island,  1776 38-39 

Greenville,  1795 45 

Hard  Labor 227 

Of  1835 40 

Of  1867 42 

With  Indians,  1632 124 

With  Indians,  1646 133 

With  Indians,  1785 39 

With  Indians,  1790 19 

With  Indians,  1791 39 

With  Indians,  1798 39 

Lochaber 36 ,  46 ,  228-229 

Ohio  Indians. 318 

Paris 187 

Seminoles 23 

Shawnees,  1795 47 

Slx  Nations 35,226-227 

Utretch 193 

Virginia  with  Cherokees 33 

Trent,  Commander  of  First  Fort 

at  Pittsburgh 189-190 

Tribal  Government 58-59 

Trigg,  Daniel 185,258 

Trigg,  Stephen... 257,258,340,356 

Tug  River,  Origin  of  Name,  221, 

269,273,277,281,282,295 

Tulalip  Reservation. 62 

Turgot,  Jacques 202 

Tuscaroras ...17-18 

U 

Ulster,  Ireland,  Settlers 156-158 

Manufactures,  1517. 161 

Underwood  Constitution 635 

United  States 327,329,373 

Utah,  Territory  of 577 

Utrecht,  Treaty  of 193 

V 

Valley  of  Virginia 38,304 

First  Settlement  in 160 

French  Invasion. 196 

Settlers  in 207 

Vance,  Lieut.  Samuel 312 

Vandalia _ 324,332,338 

Vanmeter,  Isaac 160 


Page 

Vanmeter,  John. 160 

Vass'  Fort 215 

Venango,  French  Fort  at 188,189 

Verrazzano,  John 85 

Vespucci,  Amerigo 75-76 

Vigo,  Francis 373 

Vincennes,Ind.48,186,370,372,373,374 

Vineland. 73-74 

"Virgin  Queen" '. 92 

Virginia 34-597 

Assembly 336,371 

Bill  of  Rights,  141,354,517,522-672 

Boundaries  in  1607 Il6 

Claim  to  Western  Territory 187 

Colony  of.. 257 

Charter  of  1606 61,62 

Constitution 355 

Convention  of  1861 597-605 

Council,  1776 38-188-325 

Dominion  of 259 

Government 34,168,258,265,324 

History  of... 33o 

Indians 51-5' 

Militia 208 

Origin  of  Name 9^ 

Province  of. 328 

Under  CommonwealtL 134-135 

Virginia  Long  Hunters 1^6 

Virginia  Marksmen 374 

Virginia  Royalists 133-134 

Virginia  Territory  Given  to 

U.  S.,  1783 45 

W 

Waddell  (Historian) 159 

Walker,  Dr.  Thomas.  Sur- 
veyor ...34 ,  170 ,  171 ,  178 ,  180 ,  183 ,224 

Walker  Expedition 171-185 

Walpole  Land  Grant 358 

Walpole,  Thomas 324,325,358 

Wanchese,  Chief 95 

War  of  1812 23,524 

Ward,  David 286,287,288,314,379 

Ward,  John 368 

Ward  Family 410^11 

Warren,  Col.  Augustus..;..^ 144 

Warren,  Gen 344,347,348 

Warrosquyoak  Shire 131 

Warrick  River  Shire 131 

Washington,  Augustus 188 

Washington,  George — 

At  Fort  DuQuesne 45 

Letter  to  Dinwiddie 197 

Washington,  John 144 

Washington,  Lawrence 188 

Washington  County,  Formed  .262-365 
Watauga,  Settlements  268,376,378,379 

Wayne,  Gen.  Anthony. 47 

Weapons  of  Pioneers 246-248 


700 


INDEX 


Page 

WeVatherford  (Indian  Chief) 20 

Weaving  by  Pioneers .526-528 

Webb,  Geo 355 

Webster,  Daniel 41 

Weddings,  Pioneer 248-253 

WerowDcomoco,  Indian 

Town 109  .113  ,114 

West,  Thomas  (Lord  Delaware)..  116 

West  Point 143 

West  Point,  Va .     52 

West  Virginia 173  ,178  ,181 

Western  North  Carolina 376 

Wetzel,  John : :...  305 

Wetzer,  Martin 305 

Weymouth,  Capt.  George 101 

Wharton,  Gen.  G.  C 660 

Wheeling,  W.  Va 265 

Whig  Party,  Formation  of 565  ,577 

Death  of. 579 

White  Eyes.  Capt.  (Indian 

Chief) 304 

White,  Gov.  John 97 

White  Top  Moimtain.. 329 

Whitley,  Wm 464 

Whitten,  Thos.,  Sr 287 

Whitten,  Thos.,  Jr 287 

Wiley  Family,  Massacre  of 460-461 

William  and  Mary  College 151 

Williams,  Gen.  John  S 629 

Williams,  Titus  Vespasian 640 

Williamsburg,  Va 108,140,141  , 

146  ,148-151  ,158  ,160  ,189  ,196  , 
206  ,236 ,271 ,323  ,349  ,356 ,361  ,370 

Wills  Creek 206 

Winchester,  Va 44  ,159  ,160  ,196 

Fort  at 197  ,215  ,290  ,303 

Wingfield,  Edward  Maria  101  ,102  ,106 

Quarrel  with  Smith 112-113 

Winning  of  the  West 176 

Wise  County,  Va 181 ,178 

Witchcraft,  Indian 68 

Witcher's  Creek  Shoals 209 

Witten,  James 254 ,368 

Witten  (Whitten,  Whitton) 

Jeremiah 288 


Page 
Witten,  Thomas  ...56 ,171 ,180 ,269 ,367 

Witten,  Thos.,  Jr 379 

Witten,  Col.  Wilkinson 403 

Witten  Family... 401-404 

Wives  for  the  Colony 122-123 

Wocoken,  Island  of  (Roanoke) 94 

Wolfe,  James  (English  General)  ..  197 

Captures  Quebec... 198 

Wolf  Creek 281 ,282,378  ,379 

Wolf  Hill 300 

Wood,  Maj.  Abram. 166 

Wood,  Maj.  Abram,  Expedi- 
tion of 166 

Wood's  Gap 166 

Wood's  River. 166 ,173 

Wright,  Michael 368 

Wyandot  Indians 17  ,199  ,200  ,205 

Wyatt,  Sir  Francis 125 

Wynne,  Wm ......269  ,289  ,367 

Wynne  Family 429-432 

Wythe.  Geo 371 

Wythe  County 167  ,168 ,257  ,271  , 

278 ,377 

Formed 392 

Wythe  County,  Va.,  Lead  Mines..     35 
Wytheville,  Battle  of. 617-620 


Xualan  Indians 53  54 


Yeardley,  Geo 121  ,130 

Yellow  Creek 266,267  ,277  ,320 

Yellow  Mountain 379  380 

York  County,  S.  C 382 

York  County,  Va 131 

York  Peninsular. 138 

York  River 109  ,146  ,351 

Yorktown 151 ,349,350  ,351 

Yucatan 77 

Yuman  Indians 28 


Zinzindorf,  Missionary  in  1742 44 

Zuniga 103 


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